Dean Henderson has been given another reason to seal Manchester United exit

Just like Manchester United, Dean Henderson will not look back on the 2021/22 season with much fondness.

Hoping to become United's first choice goalkeeper at the start of the campaign, his hopes were dashed before the first ball had even been kicked. The former Sheffield United loanee caught Covid-19 in mid-July and took several weeks to get back to full strength, so much so that he did not return to full training at Carrington until late-August.

Henderson struggled to overcome his symptoms and missed almost all of United's pre-season training, their warm-up matches with QPR and Brentford and, of course, their first six Premier League matches. It meant, therefore, that he faced an immediate uphill struggle to displace David de Gea as United's No.1.

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But, in Henderson's defence, any goalkeeper would have found it difficult to have replaced De Gea this season. The Spaniard has been in excellent form throughout the campaign and will be one of just a handful of United players to escape this season with any credit.

But whilst he has enjoyed the limelight and being an ever-present figure, Henderson has become used to watching United from the comforts of an Old Trafford dugout seat. For a goalkeeper, the challenge of taking up a watching brief, knowing only one spot is up for grabs, must be incredibly challenging, especially when your nearest rival has been in such terrific form.

Although Henderson, who has only played three times this season in all competitions, has been restricted to playing second fiddle to De Gea because of the latter's form and not individual mistakes on his part, it does not get any easier. The former Shrewsbury Town