Striker Eduardo hopes he could be back in action for Arsenal when they kick off their FA Cup campaign in January.
The Croatia striker played his first game after 10 months out with a broken leg in the reserves’ 2-0 win over Portsmouth at Barnet last night.
Eduardo was happy to have finally got 45 minutes of competitive action under his belt again, coming off at half-time as a precaution after feeling a twinge in his hamstring.
The 25-year-old – signed from Dinamo Zagreb in a £7.5million deal in July 2007 – is clearly taking it one step at a time following a remarkable recovery from what at the time looked a potentially career-ending injury.
However, Eduardo feels a first-team comeback for the game against Coca-Cola Championship side Plymouth in a fortnight’s time could be a realistic target.
"I hope I can do more, and that next time will be better," Eduardo told Arsenal TV.
"I just felt something in my hamstring, but in two weeks, I will be all right.
"I need more training and games, and if everything is okay, then hopefully in two weeks I will be ready to play.
"I just want to play like I did before, but maybe I can be better."
Eduardo continued: "The injury was very hard for me, but I have had to forget everything bad in my life and went to do some treatment in Brazil where I saw my family and friends, which helped make me strong.
"The Arsenal fans and also in Croatia pushed me on. I have to thank all the medical staff as well."
The Gunners missed out on the chance to close the gap on the Barclays Premier League leaders when they could only draw 1-1 at Middlesbrough over a weekend when all the sides above them also dropped points, as they slipped down to fifth place behind Aston Villa.
However, Arsene Wenger’s men have already beaten both direct rivals United and Chelsea, while current leaders Liverpool come to Emirates Stadium on Sunday.
The Gunners boss insists with half of their Premier League matches still to be played in 2009, his young side still have plenty left to play for.
"The team is improving, and if you look at the Middlesbrough game, we did have chances to score as well as being more stable defensively," said Wenger.
"I am confident we will come back and catch some ground before Christmas and then push on.
"We have a few months in front of us now to show we were right to believe in our strengths and that we can be compared to the teams of such a quality in 2004, and maybe even aim to be stronger."