The 25-year-old forward suffered a double compound fracture of the left leg following a tackle from Birmingham's Martin Taylor at St Andrews, and there were initial fears for the player's long-term career prospects. It ruled him out of Croatia's European Championships but since April he has been making remarkable progress at a clinic in Rio de Janeiro.

"He is recovering and he even may even join Arsenal for their preparations (for next season)," Bilic said.

Eduardo played a key role in knocking England out at the qualifying stage of Euro 2008 and the two countries will meet again as they look to reach the next World Cup.

They face each other in Zagreb this September, although making that fixture would be optimistic for Eduardo as Arsenal are likely to ease him back to action even if his recovery is smooth.

Bilic believes his team are motivated to perform well in Austria and Switzerland in honour of Eduardo.

"We are motivated also because of Eduardo, it's clear because he is very popular among players," said Bilic.

"Eduardo's absence is a handicap, we feel it all the time because we consider him one of the best strikers in the world.

"Arsenal have also felt that but we feel we are a good team and have enough to compensate."