Conor Bradley prediction made as Liverpool star set for long-awaited injury return

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Former Liverpool right-back Glen Johnson has backed Conor Bradley to come back stronger from his long-term knee injury and believes the defender can improve defensively and tactically upon his returnConor Bradley of Liverpool(Image: Jacques Feeney/Offside/Offside via Getty Images)Former Liverpool defender Glen Johnson believes Conor Bradley will emerge from his lengthy knee injury as an improved player. Northern Ireland manager Michael O'Neill declined to offer a timeframe when questioned towards the end of last month.Liverpool encountered difficulties at right-back during Bradley's absence, with the likes of Joe Gomez, Jeremie Frimpong and midfielders Curtis Jones and Dominik Szoboszlai all deputising at various points, and Johnson, who featured 200 times for the Reds in that position, is eager to see the first-choice defender back from injury, reports"It was exactly that [last season], a long-term Liverpool problem," Johnson told the Liverpool Echo..

But sadly he got quite a serious injury, so hopefully he can bounce back."But obviously clubs like Liverpool can't wait for you, they have to get on with it and fix it now.Conor Bradley's season ended away at Arsenal back in January(Image: Getty Images)"So hopefully he gets back and is back to himself again to challenge for a place because it is definitely an issue that Liverpool need to resolve."That is what I have seen in Conor, big potential, and of course he can improve defensively and he can improve tactically, he is going to get better going forward too. I think the baseline for all of that is still very high and he is a great athlete who can get up and down the pitch."Going forward when you're an athlete, that's kind of the easy part.

It's only when you're working against stopping top teams and they are tactically trying to pull him out of position and stuff, that is the stuff you learn during the games."So I know he needs game time for that, so if he can improve on that then he can become an even bigger player for Liverpool, if you like, and I think he can kick on big time."Despite the transfer window having been open since the start of the month, Liverpool are yet to bolster their ranks following the departures of Andy Robertson, Ibrahima Konate and Mohamed Salah, all three of whom left as free agents at the conclusion of last season. Johnson, however, does not believe new manager Andoni Iraola needs to be particularly active in the summer transfer window, adding: "Obviously Liverpool's squad is still good, it's not just always about replacing players at the end of the season and it didn't go as planned."So I think with the group they have and maybe one or two additions, you get into a good rhythm in pre-season and the current squad can bounce back to their normal level."I think that was the issue last season, too many of them dropped below their level, which was a really high level."So I think if you can just get a few more in the door, I think Liverpool have still got a fantastic squad and chuck that in with a few additions and I think Liverpool will bounce back."