A Smile has returned to the face of Wayne Henderson.

Albion's No. 1 is back in favour and on top of his game following his impressive full debut for the Republic of Ireland in Wednesday's 1-1 draw against the Czech Republic in Dublin.

Henderson was on the bench on his only previous visit to Scunthorpe for Notts County during a spell on loan from Aston Villa. It is inconceivable that he will suffer the same fate with Albion tomorrow after his international exploits.

On the previous occasion that Henderson was away on international duty he, of course, lost his place to Michel Kuipers.

It prompted him to hand in a transfer request on the afternoon of last month's home match against Bournemouth.

Now Henderson has broken his silence over the incident, making it clear that it is all water under the bridge as far as he is concerned.

Although excused training, he flew back from Dublin early yesterday morning and just a few hours later was at the training ground for a press conference to share his thoughts on his big night in his native city - and that rejected transfer request.

"It's all in the past now for me," he said. "I just want to get on and play football.

"I'm just happy to be playing again, to be back in the team and, if I can keep playing well, to stay in the team."

Well though Scunthorpe are performing, the crowd and atmosphere at Glanford Park will be nothing like it was at Lansdowne Road for the Euro qualifier against the Czech Republic where Henderson swapped shirts with Petr Cech.

Henderson insists the transition will not be difficult and appreciates his club form is inextricably linked to his international prospects.

"That is what has got me playing in front of those sort of crowds," he said. "I know it is a cliche but this is the bread and butter.

"I really am living for it. Joe Murphy (goalkeeper) is a friend of mine playing for Scunny and it will be great to get back with the lads.

"They have all welcomed me back brilliantly. It was good to come in and see them all and I can't wait to get back into training.

"The whole reason I came to Brighton was to play games and hopefully get involved in the international scene. Thankfully Stan (Steve Staunton) has stuck with me, even though we dropped down a league.

"Hopefully, I can keep playing well and take any chance I get, with Shay (Given) being out and Paddy (Kenny) struggling with injuries as well.

"There is always going to be somebody watching to see how I'm doing, so I cannot afford to let my game drop."

The flip side for Albion of Henderson's flourishing international career is that he is likely to attract interest during the January transfer window.

If a Championship or Premiership outfit comes calling with an appropriate offer then neither club or player can afford to say no.

"With the difference in divisions and Paddy (Kenny) playing in the Premier League, that is always going to go for him but hopefully I have done enough to stay in for the next game," Henderson said.

"I'm happy here and I hope we as a club can move up to where we should be. It's a shame that, with it being such a wealthy area, the club isn't wealthy as well but it's a great place to be, a great place to play and I'm getting the rewards for being here.

"This is where I want to play. I'll keep working hard with Keelo (goalkeeping coach John Keeley) and Michel and we'll dig deep and get out of this mess but I definitely need to be playing at the highest level I possibly can to really be pushing for that international spot.

"I think I showed the other night that I can play at a high level. I want to get back to the Premiership and hopefully, with games like that one, I can do that some time soon."

So much for the future. Henderson's only concern at present is to help Albion climb back up the table.

Perhaps they can draw inspiration tomorrow from the way the Republic recovered from their capitulation in Cyprus last weekend to draw with the Czechs.

"We've not had the best of runs," Henderson said. "With all the changes it's going to take time for us to settle down again, get back playing the way we want and to cut out the mistakes.

"You've got to remember it is such a young squad and there are going to be mistakes. It is difficult, because the young lads have not experienced this kind of run and we weren't expecting it, because we had really high expectations this season.

"Fingers crossed we can just get ourselves back on track again. We know we've let ourselves down in the last few weeks but the lads are strong enough to come back."