Liverpool fans have high hopes for Conor Bradley in the future but injuries have been the major hurdle for his progress so far, something Arne Slot has been speaking about.
Our win against Leicester City may have seen Trent Alexander-Arnold get all the headlines but it was actually the first time that the Northern Irishman had started back-to-back league games this season.
Coming off the pitch and being replaced by the Scouser was a premeditated decision to manage the fitness of both men.
Our head coach was asked to comment on how close our No.84 is to being able to play a full match and said:
“That depends of course on the upcoming two sessions but he’s getting closer and closer to 90 minutes.
“The first and the second [starts since his latest injury] were approximately the same amount of minutes and it’s normal if you played twice around 70 minutes, then the chance of you being able to play 90 is getting closer and closer.
“But we were also taking very good care of him because he had two injuries that were similar so let’s wait and see how he does today and tomorrow, if he’s able to play. And if he’s able to play, if he can make 90.”
The words from the 46-year-old added no assurance that the 21-year-old is ready to play at all on Sunday, never mind for a full 90 minutes, though this was likely just a conservative response.
Conor Bradley’s fitness has been his main issue at Liverpool
Jamie Carragher has called for the captain of Northern Ireland to start the remaining games of the season, as we start to plan for the future.
That future of course being the probable exit of Trent Alexander-Arnold to Real Madrid this summer, making the need to provide the Scouser more game time somewhat obsolete.
This is now the perfect chance for Conor Bradley to prove both form and fitness so that, should the Scouser leave, he can be the No.1 option at right back.
You can watch Slot’s comments on Bradley (from 9:16) via Liverpool FC on YouTube:
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