Henderson keen to build on recent results when Newcastle visit
Dean Henderson says Crystal Palace will be looking to further their recent run of fine form when Newcastle United visit Selhurst Park on Wednesday evening.
The Eagles have put in arguably their two best performances of the season in their last two outings, toppling Europe-chasing Liverpool and West Ham United, and now welcome a third continental challenger in Eddie Howe’s Newcastle team.
Whilst Palace play three times in seven days, however, Newcastle have been without a game since Saturday, 13th April – so Henderson is expecting the visitors to be fresh and offer a stern test.
“It was unbelievable,” the goalkeeper said of the team’s performance against West Ham. “Obviously the boys were really keen to back the result up from the previous weekend at Anfield, so the manager built a team this week and put it together and we were scoring goals, playing free-flowing [football]… it was brilliant.
“I think everyone knows when you're struggling for results, obviously a big win like that [Liverpool] can build confidence within the group. The messages from the managers have been great.
“We've [previously] been able to put performances together for 45 minutes, but now we've built the fitness to maintain them to 70 and now even 90 minutes, so that's been key for us as well.
“We’re laughing, joking, and the boys are buzzing. As you can imagine it's a great place when you win, that feeling, so we've just got to keep that going.”
As for the visit of Newcastle, Henderson added: “It’s going to be a tough game. Obviously they've had an extra rest and Eddie Howe's done a great job with them, they've got a great outfit and they'll come here full of confidence. Hopefully we can come out on top.
“It’s just about backing the performances up. We've obviously got good opportunities now in a tight week where we have back-to-back [fixtures], so we've just got to keep those performances high and I'm sure the results will keep coming.
“It’s a good test. I mean, we obviously got the win over the weekend – can we back it up again? So, that's what the manager will be saying to us – and we've got to go out and do that.”