Cumbrian goalkeeper Dean Henderson tonight made his England debut.

In a major milestone in the career of the Whitehaven-born player, Henderson was brought on for the second half of England's international friendly against the Republic of Ireland.

Manchester United keeper Henderson, previously with Carlisle United's academy, replaced Nick Pope as he won his first senior cap.

It was the fulfilment of a dream for the 23-year-old former St Benedict's School boy, who kept a clean sheet in his 45 minutes on the pitch as England won 3-0.

"Dream come true to make my England debut!!!" Henderson tweeted shortly after the game.

Henderson took to the turf at Wembley with England 2-0 up thanks to goals from Harry Maguire and Jadon Sancho, Dominic Calvert-Lewin later adding a penalty to complete their victory.

Henderson was called into action in the 72nd minute, saving with his feet from Alan Browne.

He later made a comfortable stop from Ronan Curtis but it was otherwise a quiet introduction to the full international scene for Henderson.

The west Cumbrian, already an Under-21 international, has been awaiting his first chance under England boss Gareth Southgate, having been named in recent squads along with Pope and Jordan Pickford.

Last year Henderson told the News & Star of his burning ambition to play for his country at the top level.

“That’s what I’ve been working for my whole life,” Henderson said. “It’s no secret I want to play for Man United and England. I’ve just got to keep working hard, stay grounded, keep setting my goals, and there’s no reason it can’t happen.”

England have further games against Belgium on Sunday and Iceland next Wednesday.

Henderson's first senior international outing has also attracted the interest of Carlisle United fans, given the various clauses in the deal that took him to Old Trafford in 2014 which could benefit the Blues.

Carlisle have previously confirmed they would benefit from a sell-on clause if Henderson is sold by Man Utd, and that they stood to benefit from "other contingent payments", but have not disclosed any details of how they would benefit from the keeper winning international caps.