‘Doing well’ – International boss gives encouraging update on long-term Liverpool injury casualty
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Northern Ireland manager Michael O’Neill has shared an encouraging update on Conor Bradley as the Liverpool right-back continues his recovery from a serious knee injury.The 23-year-old had his season cut cruelly short in January when he went to ground towards the end of the 0-0 draw away to Arsenal, with some projections that he could even miss the entirety of 2026.DOWNLOAD THE OFFICIAL EMPIRE OF THE KOP APP FOR ALL THE LATEST & BREAKING UPDATES – STRAIGHT TO YOUR PHONE! ON APPLE & GOOGLE PLAYThere were encouraging signs at the beginning of this month when the defender was pictured with a beaming smile as he descended a stairs at the AXA Training Centre during a squad session, although there’s been no evidence yet of him working in the gym or out on the grass.O’Neill pleased with Bradley’s recovery from injurySpeaking after he extended his Northern Ireland contract by four years this week, O’Neill voiced his happiness with how Bradley is progressing in his rehabilitation from injury, but stopped short of defining a projected timeline as to when the Liverpool player might be back in action.The 56-year-old told BBC Sport: “Obviously we have interaction with Conor quite regularly.
He sent me a text on my new contract, congratulating me. I spoke to him last week.“He’s doing well, you know, he’s making progress, but it’s not for me to put any type of timeline on that progress at this minute in time.
We just want him back, fit and healthy, of course we do – as do Liverpool – but it’s important how that injury is handled.”Want more Empire of the Kop coverage? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list for news you can trustInjury problems have dogged Liverpool at right-backThe summer will give Bradley a window in which to continue his recovery from injury without missing any competitive action for the Reds, although it’s too early for now to accurately predict when we’ll see him on the pitch again.The setback against Arsenal was rather inopportune during a season in which Jeremie Frimpong also broke down with several hamstring injuries, and Arne Slot frequently turned to midfielders Dominik Szoboszlai and Curtis Jones as makeshift right-backs to fill the void in the line-up.That was a frankly ridiculous scenario which can’t be deployed so regularly again next term, and it’s hugely frustrating that Liverpool have two very capable senior right-backs who’ve unfortunately been plagued with injury problems.Slot has made it unmistakably clear over the past few months that he doesn’t see Calvin Ramsay as a first-team option, which leaves the club with a dilemma – do they recruit a right-back in the risk of having an overflow in that position, or trust in Bradley and/or Frimpong to remain consistently fit?Neither answer seems particularly ideal at present, but hopefully once the Northern Ireland skipper is back from his long layoff, the problems which have afflicted him will become a thing of the past.