**Liverpool are still waiting for Conor Bradley to return from a knee injury he suffered in January, which required surgery.**
The right-back went down in pain during a 0-0 draw with Arsenal in the Premier League, which many believe that Gabriel Martinelli exacerbated when he tried to push him off the pitch.
> I’m still not over Martinelli shoving Bradley with his knee and then his hands now knowing how bad the injury was ?
>
> [pic.twitter.com/p0y2W5O4tM](https://t.co/p0y2W5O4tM)
>
> — Michael Mongie (@MikeMongie) [September 4, 2026](https://x.com/MikeMongie/status/2095831793811300355?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
It’s impossible to know whether Marinelli’s shameful involvement made things worse or if the injury was that serious from the moment his studs got caught in the turf, but the fact is that Bradley has already been sidelined for 239 days, missing 29 games in the process, is bad enough.
Speaking about Bradley’s injury at his pre-Ipswich press conference on Thursday, Andon Iraola was coy with the details of his return to training, but we have an indication of how long things will take from Bradley’s national team boss.
Northern Ireland manager doesn’t expect to see Bradley fit until 2027; any earlier will be a bonus
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Northern Ireland boss Michael O’Neill says that Bradley is making progress in his recovery as expected, even if, from the outside looking in, it looks like the fullback is behind schedule
“_Conor is where I expected him to be,”_ said O’Neill. _“I knew the injury was going to take longer than maybe some people were thinking._
_“He’s making good progress. It has to be managed very, very carefully, an injury of that nature. He’s just become a dad as well so he’s got other things to worry about as well, so congratulations to him._
_“But Conor will be with us when he is ready and fit, and we’ll be delighted to have him back.”_
When asked if Bradley will miss the international games scheduled for the rest of 2026, O’Neill said: _“I think I’m comfortable with that._
_“If we see him this side of Christmas, it will be a real bonus but if not then we look forward to March (international games).”_
O’Neill called Bradley “outstanding” after a 2-0 win over Slovakia in October last year, and he has been a major loss for both club and country since his injury against Arsenal at the start of 2026.