Former Liverpool captain Alan Hansen says it was slowness rather than intent on Martin Taylor' part that caused the horrific injury to Arsenal's Eduardo - and welcomed Arsene Wenger's retraction of his initial comments about the tackle.
Birmingham City's Martin Taylor broke Eduardo's leg on Saturday with a late tackle as Arsenal's Brazilian-born Croatian striker turned away from him with the ball after three minutes of the 2-2 Premier League draw.
Discussing the incident on Saturday night's BBC Match of the Day, ex-Liverpool star turned pundit, Alan Hansen, welcomed Wenger's retraction.
Hansen said of the tackle: "It is a horrific injury but I think what you've got to understand first is that Taylor's not run 15, 20 yards and jumped in with two feet.
"He's made the tackle from a standing start and he's just been done by a bit of pace.
"It's early on in the game, he's trying to find his feet, and he nearly gets the ball but Eduardo just nips it away from him.
"It is a red card, he mistimed the tackle, but the only person that can tell you if there is real intent is the player himself and, as Alex McLeish says, the guy's absolutely distraught.
"I'm glad Arsene Wenger has retracted his initial statement. We've all been there and emotions run high.
"In 1987, Jim Beglin broke his leg against Everton. I was the captain of Liverpool, he was my room-mate, and it was a horrific injury.
"I said things after the game that possibly I shouldn't have said, and I do regret saying them.
"You could see how the Arsenal players were with this horrific injury and emotions run high, you say things that later on you regret.
"Arsene has made this statement, he's cleared it up and hopefully that's the end of it."
