Due to a catastrophic injury sustained by Sam Johnstone, Dean Henderson will start in goal for Crystal Palace for the balance of the 2023–2024 season.
The Daily Mail reports that the Crystal Palace star will miss the remainder of the season as well as UEFA EURO 2024 due to an elbow injury he sustained while playing for England on international duty. Surgery will be required to correct the issue.
Both Oliver Glasner, who has relied on the England international to be his No. 1 since Roy Hodgson’s replacement, and Sam Johnstone are devastated by this.
But now, it appears that another Crystal Palace player injured their elbow.
During Crystal Palace training, Will Hughes seemed to have an elbow injury.
Ahead of their Premier League matchup with Nottingham Forest on Saturday, Crystal Palace has made available some training film.
A goal can only be scored with a headed effort, but in this unusual drill, the ball is tossed rather than kicked, according to Glasner’s instructions to the players.
Tyrick Mitchell’s header was saved by Will Hughes at 4:15 in the video, but in the process, the Crystal Palace No. 19’s elbow impacted the post.
After that, the 28-year-old is shown rolling on the ground while clutching his elbow. Later in the video, Henderson and Remi Matthews are shown practicing their goalkeeping.
Ideally, Hughes’ elbow damage has not been too severe, as it would be devastating to lose another player to the same injury at the same time as Johnstone is having elbow surgery.
A crucial time in Dean Henderson’s life
At Selhurst Park, the verdict on Henderson is still very much out of reach.
To be fair to the England international, the pressure hasn’t increased much because of his £20 million price tag, but the figures don’t exactly speak well of the Whitehaven native.
Henderson has played for Crystal Palace in the Premier League on eight occasions, giving up 20 goals while failing to record a clean sheet.
The fact that Johnstone was quickly reestablished as No. 1 following Hodgson’s departure also said volumes.
Henderson, then, has a lot to prove as he gets ready to return to the starting lineup.
