Henderson must wait for chance to replace De Gea

MAN UTD V SHEFF UTD 6PM

OLE GUNNAR SOLSKJAER says Dean Henderson is not ready to dislodge David De Gea as Manchester United’s No1.

And he refused to rule out the possibility of him staying on loan at Sheffield United for another year.

The highly-rated keeper has been given assurances that he remains United’s chief hope as a long-term successor to De Gea.

But with United boss Solskjaer retaining full faith in the Spain international in the short term, despite his latest error against Spurs on Friday, Solskjaer insisted that Henderson will need games to continue his progress.

“Dean has had a fantastic couple of years at Sheffield United and eventually he will be the England No1 and the Man United No1,” he said.

“But he’s got the best goalkeeper in the world to knock off his place and, for me, David is still developing and still getting better.”

Henderson, 23, has impressed during his loan spell with the Blades, both in their Championship promotion season and their charge to the fringes of European qualification. But given the terms of a loan agreement which precludes taking on his parent club, he will not get the chance to go head-to-head with De Gea, 29, when the two sides meet at Old Trafford tonight.

Solskjaer indicated talks were ongoing over an extension to Henderson’s loan deal next season.

Ollie Norwood says Sheffield United’s players must get their heads straight to avoid blowing their historic European chance.

Norwood returns to his old club Manchester United tonight with the Blades still reeling from their capitulation at Newcastle on Sunday.

The midfielder says the players must bounce back because they do not want their bid to qualify for Europe to fizzle out.

“We don’t want this season to peter out and just end up mid-table,” he said.