The Croatia international has been sidelined since he suffered a broken leg at Birmingham in February.

"Eduardo is three weeks away from playing competitive football," Wenger said.

However, Tomas Rosicky is not likely to return from a hamstring problem until after Christmas.

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Wenger later clarified Eduardo would be eased back into first-team action.

He told the club's official website, www.arsenal.com: "What I mean by competitive football is joining in completely with a normal training session.

"After that he has to come back to match-fitness - but he is ahead of where we expected him to be and that is fantastic news."