Bradley bursting with vigour after whirlwind months standing in for injured TAA

Fatigue is one hazard 20-year-old Conor Bradley doesn't fear despite being catapulted into a Liverpool team chasing three trophies in Jurgen Klopp's final campaign.

It was far more gruelling for the buccaneering full-back last season when he ended up playing 62 games for loan club Bolton and his country, Northern Ireland.

Though the stakes are clearly raised at Anfield – they host Brighton on Sunday as Premier League leaders – Bradley is bursting with vim and vigour after a whirlwind couple of months since being called up to replace the injured Trent Alexander-Arnold.

'I'm used to hectic schedule. I played far more last year,' he reports matter-of-factly.

'I remember winning the Papa John's final in front of 70,000 at Wembley and then flying to Exeter for a league game. We were all tired but I managed to score the winner.

'It was a wee nutmeg on the goalkeeper so it was a decent one to be fair!'

That was exactly a year ago when being part of Klopp's trophy machine at Liverpool seemed a distant dream.

Yet here he is having scored his first Liverpool goal, winning his first major silverware (the Carabao Cup) and netting his first international goal against Scotland – all since the end of January.

'Way beyond my expectations,' he confesses about his meteoric rise. 'I've tried to take everything in my stride and do the same things I did at Bolton. It's working at the minute.

'My loan was hugely important. League One is tough and it let me know I could play 'men's football'.

Bradley was a winger until he was converted into a right-back at the Liverpool academy. Having Alexander-Arnold in the same position could have been perceived as a problem but the young Ulsterman hopes the versatility he shares with Trent means they could feature