We’re 90 minutes from history, says Crystal Palace keeper Dean Henderson

Crystal Palace goalkeeper Dean Henderson and his team-mates are finally allowing themselves to acknowledge the enormity of what is at stake.

After weeks of insisting they were taking things game by game, there is only one more encounter standing between the Eagles and their first major trophy – Saturday’s FA Cup final with Manchester City at Wembley.

Henderson still feels he has more to prove and will relish the opportunity to remain on England boss Thomas Tuchel’s radar when he lines up between the Palace posts for the south Londoners’ third trip to an FA Cup final.

“Obviously the club’s never won a trophy. It’s obvious that the club’s never played in Europe, so straight away there’s a next level,” said the 28-year-old.

“It’s one game away for us. It’s disappointing, actually, because I genuinely believe that we should have been (in the European places) this season through the league. We started so bad that it was so hard to catch up and then the season sort of filtered out in that respect.

“But if someone would have offered us this after 10 games of the season – you’re 90 minutes away from European football, you’re 90 minutes away from creating history for the football club.

“The players all realise that we don’t speak about it a lot, but you go down in history and you’ll be classed as the best Crystal Palace team ever, no matter what, and it will get spoken about it for years to come.”

Henderson sits third in the Premier League Golden Glove standings, having kept 11 clean sheets this season, two fewer than Nottingham Forest’s Matz Sels and one behind Arsenal’s David Raya, with two top-flight games to go.

The 28-year-old joined Palace from Manchester United in 2023 and battled Sam Johnstone to be the Eagles’ first-choice keeper, eventually claiming the number one shirt last summer.

Henderson also earned a place in Gareth Southgate’s England squad for Euro 2024 after Johnstone, who signed a four-year deal with Wolves on deadline day last August, suffered a season-ending elbow injury.

Asked if he feels he is the best keeper in England, Henderson replied with an emphatic “of course” and agrees becoming number one for his country – he has won two caps – remains a massive motivating factor.

“That’s what I do it for,” said Henderson. “I obviously want to play for my country. I believe that opportunity will arise and I will be looking forward to grabbing it with both hands.”

Still, he feels he is far from fulfilling his potential, or even matching the form he enjoyed at Sheffield United from 2018 to 2020, one of his many loan spells from Manchester United.

“I think I was unbelievable at Sheffield United. I think that goes without saying,” Henderson added.

“I actually think I was better at Sheffield United than I was here up to now.

“But I’ve got to remember this is my first full season in maybe six seasons. It’s a long time from when I broke on to the scene and obviously I got stalled.

“I’ve come out the other end of it and I’m really enjoying it. I’m just going to keep going from strength to strength to strength over the next couple of seasons and that’s when I’ll be maximising my potential.”