Eduardo suffered an open fracture of his lower leg and a dislocated ankle in Arsenal's 2-2 draw with Birmingham City on February 24 after a foul by Martin Taylor.

It is expected the 25-year-old will miss nine months of action but the player himself concedes he fears an even longer spell on the sidelines.

Eduardo told Croatian newspaper Jutarnji: "Some people tell me that my rehabilitation will take six months, others say nine months, while there are some who still talk to me about 15 months."

Brazil-born Eduardo will definitely miss Euro 2008 and the start of Croatia's World Cup qualifying campaign.

"That will be too early but I hope to play in the return World Cup qualifier against England in September 2009," he added.