- England face Finland in Helsinki in the Nations League on Sunday evening
- Interim manager Lee Carsley made six changes from Thursday’s Greece defeat
- LISTEN NOW: It’s All Kicking Off!, available wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes every Monday and Thursday
England’s Nations League showdown with Finland on Sunday evening will be a game that one Three Lions man will never forget.
Lee Carsley’s men are looking to bounce back after Thursday’s shock 2-1 defeat to Greece at Wembley.
England were huge favourites on home turf but the Greeks pulled off an almighty upset in the dying stages, with Vangelis Pavlidis’ goal in the 94th minute giving the visitors a historic win in London.
And interim boss Carsley has decided now is the time to hand goalkeeper Dean Henderson his first start.
The Crystal Palace stopper was called up to the senior England squad for the first time by manager Gareth Southgate as a replacement for the injured Tom Heaton back in October 2019.
Goalkeeper Dean Henderson (2nd right) started his first game for England against Finland
He then made his debut in November 2020, coming on at half-time to replace Nick Pope in a 3–0 win over the Republic of Ireland in a friendly.
However, that had remained his one and only cap until Sunday’s game at the Helsinki Olympic Stadium.
Carsley decided Henderson should start in place of longtime No 1 Jordan Pickford.
Speaking on his decision, he said: ‘we are looking for a reaction, we fell below the levels we expect [against Greece], Carsley told ITV ahead of kick-off.
‘There was a case of getting a look at a few other players and we were always going to look at Dean Henderson in one of these games.’
