Former Coventry City player David Busst, whose career was finished by a horrific leg injury at Old Trafford 12 years ago, will write to Arsenal’s crippled striker Eduardo to offer words of encouragement.
Eduardo's leg was broken by a tackle from Martin Taylor during Saturday's 2-2 draw against Birmingham City at St Andrew's
Busst, who now works at the Sky Blues' academy, said images of the moment Taylor’s tackle broke the Croatian striker’s leg brought back sickening memories of when he broke his leg against Manchester United.
"I saw it on Match of the Day," he said. "I saw Martin Taylor coming towards him, saw the foot go up and I had to look away. It brought back the memories. I flinched. I just looked away as soon as I saw the connection.
"I always send a ‘get well’ message to players who have broken their legs badly and I'll be putting pen to paper for Eduardo. I remember how much all the letters meant to me when I was lying in hospital."
Meanwhile, Birmingham players have sprung to the defence of team-mate Martin Taylor who has been heavily criticised for the tackle that broke Eduardo's leg.
The Blues defender was dismissed after just three minutes of the game for the lunge that snapped the Croatian international's leg just above his left ankle. Striker James McFadden, who scored both Blues goals, said the incident was an unfortunate accident.
"You can see he has not tried to injure the player and he doesn’t have a history of being malicious. He is a gentle giant and to suggest otherwise is ridiculous," he said.
Defender Stephen Kelly said he wasn't convinced the tackle warranted a red card. He said: "He has not gone in to intentionally hurt him and if he hadn’t I don’t think he would have got sent off because I didn’t think it was a red card."
