The 29-year-old was signed by the Blues in October on a deal until the end of the season but his maiden appearance has been delayed by a wrist injury suffered for Wales back in August.
And now all eyes will be on the No.15 shirt, where Henson makes his bow, after a torrid two years in which he has taken a sabbatical from the game before ill-fated spells at Saracens and Toulon.
Henson admits the last couple of years have been hard to swallow but he wants to prove his doubters wrong by earning a longer-term deal.
"I'm incredibly grateful to the Blues for giving me a chance, it's kind of like a trial thing until the end of the season," he said.
"So I'll be going all-out all season now to try and get another contract with them.
"Everyone knows I've been a little bit injury-prone over the last four or five years, so I'm not much of a signing to anyone - so very grateful the Blues gave me a chance.
"It's up to me now to repay that and just try and get that long-term contract with them.
"It has been a long time, to be honest, but it was a pretty bad injury.
"Thank God I'm back on the field now on Friday night, at full-back, so it's nice to be starting and just see how things go.
"It was massively frustrating, especially just before the World Cup and missing out... that was quite hard to swallow.
"The length of the injury then has been a little bit of a nightmare, but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel now.
"I just can't wait to get back on that field and get a run of games hopefully."
Henson largely made his name as a centre for both the Ospreys and Wales but will start at full-back, a position he has never played internationally.
And while his long-term preference is the No.10 shirt, Henson admits in the short-term he doesn't mind where he plays as he inches his way back to full fitness.
"I'm just glad to be starting; obviously not my preferred position, but nevermind. I'm just glad to be on the field and it'll be interesting to see how it goes," Henson said.
"I've been training hard so hopefully I'm up to the standard and it could be an exciting night.
"With Leigh [Halfpenny] and Alex [Cuthbert] there they've been playing really well, so I'm going to enjoy playing alongside them and hopefully they'll help me out quite a bit because it's my first game for a while.
"It's an exciting backline and very hard to get into, but hopefully we'll have a good result now Friday.
"There's loads of experience throughout the team, but especially the backline.
"Hopefully it'll be a good turn-out, it's my first time playing in the Cardiff City Stadium so can't wait for that and hopefully it'll be a nice Christmas."
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