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LIVERPOOL. — Jurgen Klopp has hailed his captain Jordan Henderson on his, “absolutely deserved’’ FWA Football of the Year award.

The 30-year-old midfielder led Liverpool to their first league title in 30 years and was rewarded with over a quarter of the votes in the annual survey of journalists and reporters.

And Liverpool manager Klopp paid tribute to Henderson, who lifted the Premier League trophy following Wednesday night’s win over Chelsea.

His resilience made him the player he is now,’ Klopp said. “Is it the talent or the attitude? The answer is it’s probably a mix.

“Always a really skilled boy. He was already an exceptional player but at the highest level you have to be prepared to fight every day. He made his way and it’s absolutely deserved.

“Other players played an exceptional season, but if you want to have a guy who fought his way through to the point where he is now, absolutely deserved, one of the best players in the league and this year everyone’s acknowledged that.’’

Henderson becomes the 12th Liverpool player to claim the FWA prize and the first since Mohamed Salah two years ago.

The Liverpool man finished ahead of Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne in second and Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford in third.

He said: ‘’I’d like to say how appreciative I am of the support of those who voted for me and the Football Writers’ Association in general.

“You only have to look at the past winners of it, a number of whom I’ve been blessed to play with here at Liverpool, like Stevie (Gerrard), Luis (Suarez) and Mo (Salah) to know how prestigious it is.

“But as grateful as I am I don’t feel like I can accept this on my own. I don’t feel like anything I’ve achieved this season or in fact during my whole career has been done on my own.

“I owe a lot to so many different people — but none more so than my current team-mates — who have just been incredible and deserve this every bit as much as I do.

“We’ve only achieved what we’ve achieved because every single member of our squad has been brilliant. And not just in matches.

“Not just in producing the moments that make the headlines and the back pages but every day in training.

“The players who’ve started the most games for us this season have been as good as they have been because of our culture and our environment at Melwood.

“No one individual is responsible for that — it’s a collective effort and that’s how I view accepting this honour.

“I accept it on behalf of this whole squad, because without them I’m not in a position to be receiving this honour. These lads have made me a better player — a better leader and a better person.

“If anything I hope those who voted for me did so partly to recognise the entire team’s contribution.

“Individual awards are nice and they are special and I will cherish this one. But an individual award without the collective achievement wouldn’t mean anywhere as much to me – if anything at all.’’ — Mailonline.