The Liverpool man has shrugged off missing from the spot and says that he will be ready for action to face Croatia
England captain Jordan Henderson says he is “not too bothered” about missing a penalty in a 1-0 win over Romania.
Marcus Rashford’s 68th-minute spot kick gave the Three Lions victory at the Riverside Stadium.
Henderson, meanwhile, missed from 12 yards after coming off the bench to play his first football since February.
What did he say?
“I was confident but it was a good save, it wasn’t a great penalty, a good height for the goalkeeper but I am not too bothered. It would have been nice to cap the comeback off with a goal,” Henderson, who has yet to score for his country, told BBC Radio 5.
“There is excitement, you feel that but this week’s training has been really good intensity, the lads have been focussed, professional in the games but we will work on what we need and come the first game we will be ready.”
The bigger picture
Henderson was featuring in his first match since turning out for Liverpool in their 2-0 Premier League loss against Everton on February 20.
He is bidding to get back to full fitness in time to feature in England’s Euro 2020 campaign, in which they will face Croatia, Scotland and then the Czech Republic in the group stages.
With that in mind, the 45 minutes he played against Romania were a useful exercise in regaining fitness.
“I’m feeling very good, to get back onto the pitch was pleasing for me. I came through 45 minutes after a while out so happy with that and felt pretty good as well during the game,” he said.
“Delighted with that and have another week’s training until the first game so hopefully I can recover well.
“I didn’t need to take any risks with the Austria friendly, I have been training hard with the England team and did not feel 100% going into that game. We thought the wisest thing to do was to get ready for the Romania game and I felt good and it was important. Overall, the right decision. I am getting stronger all the time.”
England will play Croatia at Wembley on Sunday, June 13.
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