Crystal Palace’s star stopper Dean Henderson has shone this season, with the England international confident Oliver Glasner’s squad are now ready to take the last step towards making club history at Wembley this weekend.
Henderson joined the Eagles from Manchester United ahead of the 2023-24 season after impressing during Premier League loan spells at Sheffield United and Nottingham Forest, earning promotion with the former in 2019.
The 28-year-old says that he and his team-mates are heading into Palace’s FA Cup final tie against Manchester City on Saturday with a game plan, a point to prove and as the underdogs.
Henderson said: “We are one step closer to winning, but we have a job that we have got to finish off.
“It will be against a great team and it will be difficult, but we are going in with nothing to lose, the pressure will be on Manchester City.
“It will be a tight affair, and they have got so much quality. They have got players who have been there multiple times before, so obviously that gains them an advantage.
“We will be doing everything we can. Just go out, play as freely as possible, and there will be a plan put in place. You execute the plan, play with no fear, and just give it your best shot.”
Palace crossed swords with City last month. The Eagles took a shock two-goal lead inside the first 25 minutes but five unanswered goals from last season’s Premier League champions reminded the South Londoners how much quality they are up against.
Glasner warned opposite number Pep Guardiola in the wake of that game that if City played the same system in a potential rematch in the FA Cup, he would “solve” it.
Henderson, just like his boss, is not lacking in belief.
Crystal Palace v Southampton – Premier League, Selhurst Park, 29 December 2024
Picture : Keith Gillard
He said: “You look at the strength of the Villa squad (who Palace beat in the semi-final). They pushed PSG close and they are going to the final of the Champions League.
“For us to win 3-0 at Wembley against them in a semi-final is special. It was not spoken about enough, how well we played there.
“In the semi-final, we did not get stage fright, we took the game to Villa, we mastered the game plan and executed it perfectly.
“That is the thing, you have got to stay calm in the moment and trust your abilities, in what you have been working on – that is what the manager has given us.
“We went away to Man City and Newcastle in the space of three days and it was a disastrous three days – we conceded 10 goals. All hell could break loose at that point but Glasner is just like: ‘Push it aside, it doesn’t matter, it has gone’.
“He actually showed us proof of why it happened and in the following games, we executed the opposite. Tactically he is phenomenal.”
For all Glasner’s focus on the cold, tactical elements of the game, the emotions of Palace progressing to this weekend’s showpiece were not lost on
Henderson, who has been capped at every level by England from senior level down to U16.
“After the semi it was nice to have a couple of weeks where you just go ‘phwoar!’ because building into a game like that, emotions are high,” said the Cumbrian-born goalkeeper, who was part of the Three Lions squad which won the 2017 FIFA U20 World Cup, featuring once in the group stages.
“You do not enjoy one moment of the game, that’s natural. But when the final whistle goes it is like the weight of the world is lifted off your shoulders because you got through, and that is when you can enjoy it.
“Everything about that game was phenomenal – the fans in Covent Garden. You left the hotel and you knew about it. The fans were everywhere. You felt what it meant for the club to just be in a semi-final – so for the final it will mean a lot more to this football club.”
Palace have finished runners-up in the FA Cup twice before – in 1990 and 2016.
Tomorrow represents a chance for the first major silverware, with victory also securing a spot in next year’s Europa League.
The Eagles finished third in the top flight in 1991 but missed out on European football due to a ban on English clubs competing in the competition due to the Heysel Stadium disaster.
Crystal Palace v Liverpool – Premier League, Selhurst Park 05 October 2024
Picture : Keith Gillard
“When I left Manchester United and came here, it was to take Palace to the next level,” said Henderson. “That is how it was described to me. So one season on, hopefully we can lift silverware.
“The club have never won a trophy. The club has never played in Europe. So straight away the next level is one game away for us.
“It is disappointing actually because I genuinely believe that we should have been in there this season through the league. We started so badly, it was so hard to catch up. The season sort of petered out in that respect.
“But if someone had offered us this after 10 games of the season (then they would have taken this scenario) – and you are 90 minutes away from European football and creating history for the football club, you will go down in history and you will be classed as the best ever Crystal Palace team, no matter what, and it will get spoken about for years to come. That is exciting.
“I know it means everything to fans. I am tight with the kit man here, Teddy (Dennington). He has been a fan for many years. He tells me you do not realise how much this will drive this football club forward and how much it will put you in history with the fans.
“That will be something we are all really excited to be involved in. So now, we are looking forward to it. Fingers crossed it goes to plan and a European tour will be nice for the fanbase.
“I am sure they will make a noise all around Europe.”
Aside from winning automatic promotion with the Blades, Henderson’s other club achievements are being in the Manchester United squad that lost in the 2021 Europa League final and also coming up just short in the EFL Trophy final while on loan at Shrewsbury in 2018.
Henderson feels he has a point to prove in the Premier League, despite having more than 120 appearances in the competition.
The Palace number one has claimed the third most clean sheets among Premier League keepers this season – only bettered by Forest’s Matz Sels (13) and Arsenal’s David Raya (12).
While his save percentage is only slightly above average, he is fifth best in the league for post-shot expected goals minus goals allowed, a stat which takes the quality of the shots that a keeper faces into account to more accurately measure how good a shotstopper they are.
Crystal Palace v Manchester United – Premier League, Selhurst Park 21 September 2024
Picture : Keith Gillard
“You can only go off my form this season, I am up there with the best in the league goalkeepers-wise,” said Henderson, who joined United’s academy at the age of 14 after previously being on Carlisle’s books.
“I know my level. The reality is that the only way you get seen is producing it week in, week out and I have been doing that.
“To get silverware in the back pocket would be a phenomenal achievement, not only for the club but personally as well. It would be a dream come true. The FA Cup is such an iconic trophy.”
Henderson revealed that part of these hopes for FA Cup glory come from a drive to make his father proud, who passed away soon after Henderson returned from his Euros campaign last summer.
“He would have been delighted,” said Henderson. “I actually got a message before the semi-final of my neighbour laying red and blue flowers at his grave and she sent me a video of it.
“That was a big motivation. That was great. It did not sink in until the next day, really. It would be phenomenal to go and tell him about it. I always look up and he’s always there in my corner. He will be kicking every ball with me. I am looking forward to seeing what power he can give me on the day.”
MAIN PICTURE: ALAMY
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