Northern Ireland’s latest captain Conor Bradley says he can take inspiration from his Liverpool skipper Virgil van Dijk when leading his country.
After Jonny Evans retired from international football in August, manager Michael O’Neill has said he will rotate the armband around his squad and it was Bradley who led the side in the 0-0 draw against Belarus in the Nations League last weekend and will do so again when Bulgaria visit Windsor Park on Tuesday night.
Bradley says he is aiming to “lead by example” and cites Van Dijk’s approach with Liverpool as something he seeks to emulate.
“He’s always one of the best players in training every day and that’s something I aspire to be,” said the 21-year-old.
“How he conducts himself every day, how he leads by example, Virgil is quite a role model.”
Bradley will start his fourth international of the season against the Bulgarians compared to just one start with Liverpool in 2024-25 so far.
The former Bolton Wanderers loanee is embracing the opportunity for game time on international duty, while saying he knows he has more to learn if he is to earn increased minutes under new manager Arne Slot at Anfield.
“It’s a good chance for me to get two 90 minutes under my belt because it’s been limited at my club level,” he said.
“I am still young, I’m not the complete player. I still have to get better at defending, I still have to get better going forward.
“I’m just trying to learn every day off people like Trent [Alexander-Arnold] and Andy Robertson who are world class players. I try to take bits of their game and put it into mine.”
Northern Ireland were denied victory on Bradley’s first time captaining the side after missing a host of first-half chances against Belarus in a behind-closed-doors fixture played in Hungary.
While the side have kept five clean sheets in their past eight internationals, finding the net remains a problem. In 2024, they are averaging just one goal per game but Bradley remains confident things will soon turn.
“The first three games [in the Nations League] haven’t went as well as we would have wanted to with the results, but the performances are getting better and better and the results will follow,” he insisted.
“I’d rather we were missing chances than not getting any chances at all. The goals will come. We’ve got good strikers who are good at finishing, we see it every day in training.
“It’s just a matter of time before we start scoring two or three goals in a game.”