First Team Focus For Henen

First Team Focus For Henen

It’s a case of new year but same goals for David Henen, who is pleased to see the back of a frustrating end to 2017.

The 21-year-old Belgium youth international was denied making his first-team debut for Everton by a UEFA regulation before sustaining a minor injury that ruled him out of action for a fortnight, when manager Sam Allardyce first took the managerial reins in late November.

A fresh start in 2018, then, has been welcomed with open arms by the energetic young forward, who says he is more determined than ever to achieve his ultimate goal sooner rather than later.

“My target is the same,” says Henen, who initially joined the Blues on loan from Olympiakos in September 2014 before making the move permanent 12 months later. “I want to make my first-team debut and score goals at Goodison. I want to help the team and show my talent. This is what I wanted from the day I signed here, so I hope this year, 2018, I will make my debut.

“It was a bad end to the year for me so I’m happy to have a fresh start. Because I had a loan at Fleetwood, which came in the past two years, it meant I couldn’t make my debut in the Europa League. Two days before, Unsy took me aside after the Leicester game and told me to be ready because I will play against Lyon, so I was very excited. But then the next day, I found out I couldn’t play which was so frustrating because I knew Unsy really wanted me to feature.

“Every game in Europe, some fans asked why I wasn’t playing but they didn’t understand the whole situation.

“It was a difficult time because after that we played Liverpool in the Under-23s and lost 4-0. It was a really tough few weeks.