This season I'm neck and neck with Jordan... I'm ready to be England's No1

Asked how he, his wife, and his one-year-old son are settling in London, 18 months after relocating to the capital, Dean Henderson admits in a half-hushed tone: "Last year was probably the hardest year of my life."

-  DOM SMITH

The next could prove one of the most consequential, if he can convince Thomas Tuchel he should start for England at the 2026 World Cup. But whatever he stands to gain, the last year has been one marred by personal loss.

Two weeks before he joined Crystal Palace from Manchester United in August 2023, Henderson became a father to his son. The day before he signed, Dougie, his own father, was diagnosed with cancer.

"I went away to Euro 2024 knowing he was dying," the 27-year-old goalkeeper tells Standard Sport. "Before I joined up with the England camp, I went for coffee with him. He was looking slim.

"I was going away for potentially six weeks, knowing it was going to happen at some stage - but I didn't think it would happen that quick. I received a text off my brother before the semi-final with Holland, saying: 'Look, I think you need to get on a plane and come and see him, it'll be the last time.' I spoke to Dad on the phone. He was adamant: 'Stay there, bring me the medal, I'll wait for you'. And he waited for me. As soon as I got back, that was it."

Six days after returning from Euros heartbreak with England, Henderson's father passed away aged 57. Then, in October, his friend and former Sheffield United teammate George Baldock, 31, drowned in his swimming pool at home in Athens.

Henderson's Palace debut in September 2023 was a return to his former home, Old Trafford, in the Carabao Cup and a return from a nine-month hamstring injury. He lasted 19 minutes before the same muscle gave way. Cue nine more weeks out. "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger," he says, believing it.

His goalkeeper gloves perched on his lap as he sits beside the pool table in the games room at Palace's Copers Cope Road training ground, Henderson thinks now of the runners-up medal he brought back from Germany for his late father.

"It's just a shame the medal couldn't be gold, but I'm sure it can be in the future."