Northern Ireland international Conor Bradley. (Photo by Andrew McCarroll/Pacemaker Press)placeholder image
Northern Ireland international Conor Bradley. (Photo by Andrew McCarroll/Pacemaker Press)
Liverpool manager Arne Slot has confirmed Northern Ireland international Conor Bradley is set to miss their next seven matches through injury “unless a miracle happens”.
Bradley captained Northern Ireland during their final two World Cup qualifying fixtures against Slovakia and Luxembourg but was substituted at half-time of the latter at Windsor Park on Monday.
Slot has now revealed Bradley picked up a muscle injury during the international break and doesn’t expect the 22-year-old to be involved for the reigning Premier League champions across “the upcoming 22 days”.
That means Bradley is set to miss Champions League showdowns against PSV and Inter alongside league clashes with Nottingham Forest, West Ham United, Sunderland, Leeds and Brighton.
It’s a major blow for Bradley who had started in Liverpool’s previous three matches, including starring in their European triumph over Real Madrid.
“We do have some issues after the international break unfortunately, Conor Bradley is not able to play, Florian Wirtz is not able to play, so that’s far from ideal,” said Slot. “Both muscle issues, I don’t expect Conor to be part of the upcoming 22 days, maybe after, but not during unless a miracle happens.
“Florian should be able to maybe play, it depends how things work but that maybe shouldn’t be that long.
“Jeremie is already out, Giovanni Leoni, so at this moment we have five natural defenders available for seven games in 22 days and I don’t see anybody coming back before that.”