Liverpool boss delighted after England Under-21s captain scores winner against Udinese

England Under-21s captain Jordan Henderson has received praise from his club boss after sending Liverpool into the last 32 of the Europa League.

Henderson netted the only goal in the Reds' 1-0 victory over Udinese on Thursday night as they clinched top spot in the group and a place in the knock-out phase.

And Brendan Rodgers was delighted for the former Sunderland midfielder, who is in the running for the England Under-21s Player of the Year award, after he bagged his third goal for the Anfield giants.

"He is a great lad and works hard and has come in over the last month and made a good contribution to the team," said Rodgers.

"It was a very good finish and he was unfortunate not to get a second goal as the keeper made a wonderful save.

"He has that quality to arrive in the box and he has a finish in him, so I am delighted for him and his hard work is paying off."

The 22-year-old was equally happy with his match-winning strike, his first for Liverpool since May, and he is now aiming to improve his return for his club.

"It is always nice to get goals and it was a good moment for me to score," he said.

"I have missed a few good chances in games so it was nice to put one away and hopefully I can keep scoring from now on.

"I have always tried to improve my goalscoring. Even when I've been getting good chances of late I've not put them away so I started to think I need to score and I've managed to do that so I'm happy.

"I think if you score goals then it does give you more confidence."

You can vote for Henderson, or one of nine other England Under-21s players on the shortlist, for the Player of the Year award in the poll below.