Henderson has battled back to fitness after a career-threatening back injury which has sidelined him for more than a year.

He played in the reserves against Bury at Radcliffe Borough on Wednesday, helping North End's second string to a 4-1 penalty shoot-out success in the Lancashire Cup.

That followed a run-out against the same opponents at Chorley's Victory Park the week before which marked his comeback to competitive action.

Henderson is likely to need a few more games in the reserves before he's considered ready for Championship action.

And he's keen for more afternoons playing in front of a handful of supporters if that is what is required to get back into Alan Irvine's plans.

Henderson told the Evening Post: "My first aim is to get back on to the bench and put some pressure on Andrew Lonergan.

"That mean playing reserve games at grounds I've not had the experience of visiting before.

"But going to grounds like Radcliffe Borough will make me more hungry to get back into the manager's thoughts here and the international scene.

"I hope it won't be long before I can be back on the bench for the first team. It's all about achieving little goals now.

"I've spoken to the manager about what he expects of me, and he wants me to get as many games as quickly as possible."

Henderson hasn't pulled on his gloves for the first team since the early weeks of last season, and the Ireland international needs to make up for lost time.

He's had two operations to cure the damage and months of careful rehabilitation under the care of PNE's medical staff.

Henderson puts the injury down to simple wear and tear.

Full story in Saturday's Lancashire Evening Post