His short-term future may be uncertain but goalkeeper Stephen Henderson has underlined his ambition to become West Ham’s number one.

On loan at Portman Road until January, the 24-year-old Dubliner makes no secret of his desire to oust veteran Finland star Jussi Jaaskelainen at Upton Park.

He said: “I like to think I can become first choice. I’ve a four-year contract and I’m only in my first year so there’s a long way to go. I might be wrong, but I don’t think they want me out just yet.

“I’ve only been at West Ham for five or six months so hopefully I can show them what I can do while I’m here and we can take it from there.

“It’s a great club and it’s somewhere I’d love to establish myself as the number one goalkeeper. It’s a fantastic club and fan base, the same as Ipswich is, but I want to be a Premier League goalkeeper and it’s my aim to be one with West Ham.”

Henderson moved to the Hammers in May after a brief loan spell and his first team experience has been restricted to two appearances in the Capital One Cup, a 2-0 home win over Crewe and a 4-1 defeat by Wigan at Upton Park.

He added: “It has been a bit frustrating at Upton Park but it’s down to me that I’m not in the team at the minute. I haven’t done enough to get in the side and I’d be the first to admit that.

“It’s probably for the best because there are a lot of keepers who have gone into the Premier League, it hasn’t gone for them and they’ve just disappeared.

“It obviously isn’t meant to be at the minute but being here and playing games will help me and hopefully help Ipswich as well.”

Photo: Action Images

patrickswell added 09:15 - Nov 9 More honesty and candour from the players which is to be admired, but Henderson hasn't done himself any favours with this has he? It's like Alex McCarthy's perceived attitude of "I'd rather be at Leeds or Reading than slumming it here" from earlier in the year. Whatever the football equivalent of Hell is, I hope Paul Jewell's career prospects are burning there. What a pile of dross he has left us with. The only consolation is that most of them will have gone back to other club's benches by the time we're gearing up for League 1 football off the back of their efforts here.

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davidsc1971 added 09:16 - Nov 9 Time to get back down the A12 then. Nice to see a keeper give it the Barry Big One after conceding 5 goals in midweek, even if 2 of them were penalties
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buryblue77 added 09:47 - Nov 9 Bobblehat I'm with you on that one. Really wasn't convinced by the signing of Loach and some of his performances. In my view we've got 3 keepers of fairly equal level. ALB always seems to play well for a few games when he comes back into the side, give him a few games and send Henderson back.
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JohnnyCougar added 09:47 - Nov 9 FFS! Soon I rather be playing in League One with OUR players. I've had it!
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JewellintheTown added 10:05 - Nov 9 I agree witht he above comments on the whole, but just so some of you understand how the news works, its unlikely Henderson has just decided to make a statement like this, he will have been asked specific questions targetted to get this response, and full context not known for better entertainment value. The guy isnt exactly going to say he hates it at WH, and wants to be here is he, neither would Loach if roles were reversed and he was sent out on loan? I dont agree he's the answer to our problems, nor he's good enough to claim top spot at WH, but this response might not seem the same if you understood the context. Whilst he's been chosen to be between our posts, I for one will leave it up to MM to decide if he's good enough and support him until he's not. Do some fans on this site want all our players to feel cr@p when they play for us? Clever move.

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lowtit added 10:27 - Nov 9 for gawds sake - get RID!
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FarringdonBlue added 10:42 - Nov 9 Get lost you to$$er!!!
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Steve_ITFC_Sweden added 11:06 - Nov 9 I wouldn't say he was being disrespectful. He's simply telling us what his ambitions, as a loan player belonging to another club, are. However, I think he's got a long way to go before those ambitions are fulfilled! I wonder if they ever will be.
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PSGBlue added 11:18 - Nov 9 What kind of message does this send to Loach! Especially when Henderson is no better. Kick him back to Wet Spam Reserves and let someone - Loach play for his number one choice club!
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Toepunt added 11:24 - Nov 9 WarkyWonderLand seems to be the only one to point out what was blindingly obvious at the time of Henderson's loan, then permanent signing by West Ham. They desperately needed to give Portsmouth a cash injection to prevent them from winding up (effectively safeguarding 6 points). WH must be laughing their heads off that they've managed to end up in a position where another club is contributing towards his wages! Don't hold your breath waiting for that Premier League game to happen,IMO it's not what you were bought for.

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Lightningboy added 11:47 - Nov 9 Fell sorry for ALB to be honest..very rarely let us down when called upon & gets a lot of unfair stick when he makes the slightest error. Send Henderson back Mick and let's persevere with "our" keepers.
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meekreech added 11:49 - Nov 9 Wet spam have already stated he is available to us for ba permanent move in January ! Does he not talk to any of the players there to hear what is being said ! If he is not aware of these statements he must be somewhat lacking in grey cells !
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Carrotblue added 12:00 - Nov 9 Why is hw still here, send him back up the A12 ASAP
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Warkys_Tash added 12:38 - Nov 9 @ JewellinTheTown. Spot on, good post. No doubt Phil is regretting running this one as its been taken out of context for sure. IMO the lad isn't Premer league quality - neither was that McCarthy, yet he is playing there at the moment for Reading - However he is hardly going to say he wants to leave West Ham when he only just signed for them and of course he wants to play in the Prem. Give him a break. Personally, I think all 3 keepers are average and have mistakes in them. Lets hope he doesn't let in a howler on Sat for all the stick that some of you on here are gvivng him. Probably the same crowd that unfairly gave Andy Marshall stick the moment he pulled on a Town shirt, 10 years ago.

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simonsays added 13:03 - Nov 9 'Henderson underlines his ambition to be Wet Spams number 1' Some people really lack ambition!
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LordMamu added 13:47 - Nov 9 Who is this plum? I thought he was a third choice keeper at West Ham on loan to a bottom of the Championship side but he appears to think he is Gordon Banks.
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Toepunt added 14:58 - Nov 9 MeekReech "Wet spam have already stated he is available to us for a permanent move in January " Sounds about right, WH probably didn't want him at all, only a means to inject cash into Portsmouth to prevent them going under (and WH losing 6 points). You have to admire Henderson's agent who saw the deal for what it really was and made WH pay with a 4 year contract! Now they want rid after just a few months of the season gone. Hope it's not us that bail WH out of their dubious deal, Loach is no worse.

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jas0999 added 16:33 - Nov 9 Agree with other comments. A completely pointless signing in the first place - turned us down twice before and now clear he doesn't care less about us! That's the problem with loans though - two or three loans would be more than enough; the last regime still have questions to answer - instead MM inherits the mess. More loans to leave soon hopefully - starting with this joker. No better than Loach (who I still think is poor).

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TheBoyBlue added 16:34 - Nov 9 Sod off back to Wet Spam then. A good reason why so many are against all these loans coming in. As soon as MM gets the opportunity I'm sure he's going to clear out players like this. We want players committed to us. Apart from anything else he's really not that great.
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h32 added 18:03 - Nov 9 Can never knock a player for being ambitious and wanting to play at the highest level - but this one should not be at the Club having made it clear that he has no desire of a future here. Loach back in NOW - and 'Coaches work on his faults' - that's what your job at the Club is, or should be. At the very least - HE WANTS TO PLAY FOR OUR CLUB - for mutual benefit, not just his.

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TheCurly added 19:13 - Nov 9 A poor loan by Jewel, debatable whether he is better than Loach or ALB. As we are rock bottom of Championship and he has just let in 5 I can see why he would look forward to return to WH. Send him back asap, he is not good enough for Championship (as his record with Portsmouth and ITFC testify) let alone Premiership, would rather see one of OUR keepers between the sticks than a below average loanee

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R_LAMB3 added 23:43 - Nov 9 This only go to prove what i have been saying about loan players. This player dont really want to be here and he is keeping out a player who does. I was so gutted after the palace game i could not get to sleep that night. I wonder if henderson lost any sleep that night after letting in five goals. Send him back put loach in and use his wagers to bring conner in from sunderland.

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R_LAMB3 added 00:40 - Nov 10 So henderson say loach is a good championship keeper. What do he think he is he had to go out on loan because the hammers dont want him and no other premier team would want him. So welcome to the championship henderson
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