Fatigue is one hazard 20-year-old Conor Bradley doesn’t fear despite being catapulted into a Liverpool team chasing three trophies in Jurgen Klopp‘s final campaign.
It was far more gruelling for the buccaneering full-back last season when he ended up playing 62 games for loan club Bolton and his country, Northern Ireland.
Though the stakes are clearly raised at Anfield – they host Brighton on Sunday as Premier League leaders – Bradley is bursting with vim and vigour after a whirlwind couple of months since being called up to replace the injured Trent Alexander-Arnold.
‘I’m used to hectic schedule. I played far more last year,’ he reports matter-of-factly.
‘I remember winning the Papa John’s final in front of 70,000 at Wembley and then flying to Exeter for a league game. We were all tired but I managed to score the winner.
Conor Bradley was drafted in to Liverpool’s defence following Trent Alexander-Arnold’s injury
Last week Bradley scored to help Northern Ireland beat Scotaland – his first international goal
Bradley does not fear fatigue with Liverpool chasing three trophies in Jurgen Klopp’s final year
‘It was a wee nutmeg on the goalkeeper so it was a decent one to be fair!’
That was exactly a year ago when being part of Klopp’s trophy machine at Liverpool seemed a distant dream.
Yet here he is having scored his first Liverpool goal, winning his first major silverware (the Carabao Cup) and netting his first international goal against Scotland – all since the end of January.
‘Way beyond my expectations,’ he confesses about his meteoric rise. ‘I’ve tried to take everything in my stride and do the same things I did at Bolton. It’s working at the minute.
‘My loan was hugely important. League One is tough and it let me know I could play ‘men’s football’.
Bradley was a winger until he was converted into a right-back at the Liverpool academy. Having Alexander-Arnold in the same position could have been perceived as a problem but the young Ulsterman hopes the versatility he shares with Trent means they could feature together.
‘I can learn so much off Trent so it’s a blessing in that way to have him here,’ he says. ‘He has had a similar pathway to me through the academy.
Bradley was a winger until he was converted into a right-back at the Liverpool academy
Alexander-Arnold has missed Liverpool’s last nine games with a knee injury
‘At the same time, it’s obviously going to be difficult to put Trent out of the team because he’s an unbelievable footballer.
‘I think he could play pretty much anywhere and I played right wing for Northern Ireland last week so there are possibilities (to play in the same team). It’s massive to be versatile – it helps the manager to pick you!
Though he grew up a Liverpool fan with Luis Suarez or Steven Gerrard on the back of his shirt, he also reveals an affection for a young Gareth Bale, who also alternated between full-back and the wing early in his career.
‘He was one of my idols growing up,’ says Bradley. ‘Wales are a small nation, but he was their best player for so many years and got his move to Real Madrid.
‘I just enjoyed watching him play, some of the stuff he did was magnificent. It’s nice to get little comparisons but I still think I have a long way to go to do what he’s done!’
Liverpool’s mid-season injury crisis would have floored lesser clubs on top of Klopp’s shock announcement that he is about to leave.
Yet Bradley’s introduction was quickly followed by other homegrown rookies like Jarrell Quansah, Bobby Clark, Jayden Danns and James McConnell.
They have given the whole club a shot in the arm and all featured in the remarkable Carabao Cup final triumph against Chelsea.
Klopp revealed his assistants had been pushing for Bradley to be promoted to the first team
Bradley’s Eureka moment came after Alexander-Arnold had been crocked and he stepped up to score against Chelsea
Bradley’s own Eureka moment came after Alexander-Arnold had been crocked and he stepped up to score in a 4-1 Premier League win against Chelsea at Anfield.
‘It’s difficult trying to break into one of the best teams in the world and that was probably the game where I thought ‘Right, I can do this,’ he explains.
‘It was a big moment where I realised it was possible for me.
‘My friends were over for the game. We were back at my apartment afterwards and I remember saying ‘What’s just happened?!’. It was like, crazy.
‘The next couple of days were just crazy. I couldn’t believe what was happening to be honest.’
Having fellow academy graduates around him has eased the transition.
‘You come into a dressing room full of men you have not spoken to much but I’ve also had players who have gone through the whole journey with me,’ he says.
Yet Bradley’s introduction was quickly followed by other homegrown rookies like Jarrell Quansah
‘I’ve been with Jarell since we were 12 when I first came to Liverpool. It’s special we’re now playing in the first-team together.’
Bradley doesn’t want to linger on the prospect of of adding the Premier League title and Europa League.
He’s purposefully trying to avoid added pressure. ‘I like to play Xbox with friends, switch off and not think about football too much away from the training ground,’ he says.
‘But hopefully there are a few more trophies to come. That would be quite nice.’
