10 THINGS YOU DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT ROCHDALE’S SCORING HEROES

IAN HENDERSON, 33 1

A WELL-TRAVELLED striker whose career has taken him from Norwich to Rochdale via Turkey. During a six-month stint with Ankaragucu in 2009, he was asked to take part in a ritual in which a goat was slaughtered on the pitch and its blood rubbed on the players’ heads. He declined and, after two appearances, returned to England having not been paid.

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WHILE he was born in Bury St Edmunds and was capped at England Under 20 level, Henderson is eligible to play for Scotland through his father. At 33, it’s still not too late for Alex McLeish to pick up the phone — especially if Henderson repeats his heroics in the replay at Wembley.

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NO wonder he gave Rochdale bite in attack — Henderson considered training to become a dentist when he left Colchester in 2013. He said: ‘I had braces when I was a kid. I didn’t have the most aesthetically pleasing teeth and I was really intrigued by it.’

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HENDERSON suffered personal tragedy in 2000 when his older brother Tommy, who was also once on the books at Norwich, died in a car accident. Henderson said before this tie: ‘I always have a thought for my brother and my grandad before a game.’

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HOW will he celebrate this Cup upset? Probably with a pint of Guinness and Black. He once said the drink was his guilty pleasure along with Dairy Milk chocolate, which he only allows himself after a game. It’s fair to say he earned it last night!

STEVE DAVIES, 30 1

FELLOW striker Davies returned to fitness just in the nick of time. His sensational, 15-minute cameo was his first action in 2018, having been ruled out since picking up a knock against Doncaster on December 29.

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IN fact, Davies has not been fortunate with injuries. He fractured his skull while playing for Derby in 2011 which left him ‘millimetres’ from suffering brain damage and required 10 metal plates and more than 20 screws to be inserted in his head. His six operations in three years with Derby also included a broken ankle and a hernia.

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HE’S made his name as a goalscorer, but Davies has tried his hand in goal, too. While at Bristol City, he swapped positions with current Burnley and England goalkeeper Tom Heaton in a training session and match with local homeless people as part of a project with the club’s community trust.

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ROCHDALE’S money-spinning trip to Wembley is a case of third time lucky for Davies. He has twice been on the losing side in League One play-off semifinals with Sheffield United in 2015 and Bradford City the following season.

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DAVIES may fill out his Rochdale shirt but club records list his weight as 11st 7lb — at 6ft 1in, that gives his body mass index a healthy score of 21.3. Maybe Rochdale need to reset their scales . . .