Conor Bradley enjoyed a brilliant January in a Liverpool shirt (Picture: Getty Images)
Conor Bradley is set to return to the Liverpool squad this weekend after a time on compassionate leave following his father’s death.
The 20-year-old had a fantastic January with the Reds, starting two Premier League games and scoring his first top flight goal in a rousing win over Chelsea.
The full-back also played in the two Carabao Cup clashes with Fulham and the dominant FA Cup win over Norwich, providing two assists in the 5-2 victory.
However, there was terrible news for Bradley and his family as his father, Joe, died on 3 February at just 58 years old and the youngster took compassionate leave from the club as a result.
The Northern Irishman did not feature in the Premier League meetings with Arsenal and Burnley, but will be back as the Reds go to Brentford on Saturday and he is keen to be involved again,
‘I just want to pick up where I left off,’ he said.
‘I just want to keep trying to play as well as I can for the team and help the team as much as I can, so hopefully I can pick up with that on Saturday and see what happens.’
Jurgen Klopp has been delighted by the emergence of Bradley (Picture: Getty Images)
Bradley’s return will be important for Jurgen Klopp after Trent Alexander-Arnold was ruled out for at least the rest of February due to a knee problem.
The Reds take on the Bees on Saturday before hosting Luton four days later and then taking on Chelsea in the Carabao Cup final on 25 February at Wembley.
Klopp will be thrilled to have him back, having spoken of how impressed the club has been with him.
‘I know it for a while because in the left ear is Pep Lijnders and in the right ear is Vitor Matos,’ Klopp said after the 4-1 win over Chelsea of his coaches recommending Bradley.
‘I remember Pep sat in my office and said, ‘I’d put both hands in fire for him!’ I loved him from the first day, I didn’t need a lot of convincing. The thing is, Conor showed up extremely good in pre-season, did extremely well at Bolton [on loan]. Comes back, looks top in pre-season, wow, and then is out for five months [or] four months, [with] like these kind of issues that only young people have, but thank God then time can sort it. At our age it would not get better but in that age group it gets better.
‘He is incredible. The fans were already singing his name. He is flying and rightly so. He is working hard and he is a great footballer. People said in the summer we needed another right-back but we were very positive about Conor.’
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