July 6 2019

Selhurst Park (Photo: Andy Roberts)

Crystal Palace have made their first summer acquisition with the signing of goalkeeper STEPHEN HENDERSON.

The 31-year-old was a free agent after leaving Championship club Nottingham Forest at the end of the season and he has penned a one-year deal.

HENDERSON, who will fly out with Palace's squad for the pre-season tour of Switzerland, will act as cover for Vicente Guaita and Wayne Hennessey and fill the void left by Julian Speroni.

He only played 16 games for Forest after joining from Charlton three years ago and had brief loan stints at Portsmouth and Wycombe Wanderers.

The 6ft 2in Dubliner said: "It’s a privileged position so I’m delighted to get it over the line. I spoke to Dean Kiely and he said: ‘Do you fancy coming in and having the opportunity to work with the lads?’ Obviously it’s a no-brainer and I jumped at the opportunity.

"Training [on Friday] was absolutely excellent. The goalkeepers are at a very high standard which is what I expected so I’m just going to take it all in and learn from them and try to support them as best I can.

"Just seeing this morning on my first day, the standards are what I expected from two top Premier League goalkeepers."

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