Conor Bradley scored the goal of his life in Glasgow on Tuesday night but his jubilation was tinged with concern for his Liverpool teammate Andy Robertson.
Robinson, who has missed three months of the season after a shoulder operation, limped off with an ankle injury during the first half of Scotland’s sobering 1-0 defeat at home to Northern Ireland.
‘I’m disappointed,’ said Bradley. ‘I didn’t have the chance to speak to him but I was right behind it and it did look nasty, I think he rolled his ankle maybe or something like that. It was a nasty one but hopefully nothing serious.
‘He’s massive for us, one of the best left backs in the Premier League for the last 10 years and he’s been such a big help to me in my career. I’ve learned so much off him.’
Conor Bradley scored his first international goal in Northern Ireland’s 1-0 win over Scotland
Bradley’s delighted was tinged with concern for his Liverpool team-mate Andy Robertson
Robertson limped off injury after appearing to roll his ankle in the match at Hampden Park
Bradley scored the only goal of the friendly at Hampden Park on Tuesday, a wonderful solo effort, where he won the ball deep Scotland territory, made space for a shot and fired it into the top corner with the help of a slight deflection.
‘Definitely the best one I’ve scored,’ said the 20-year-old Liverpool full back, deployed by Northern Ireland boss Michael O’Neill in a less familiar role, supporting the lone striker from an advanced position in midfield.
‘We lost the ball and I tried to win it back as quickly as I could and I took a touch and the whole far corner just opened up for me so I thought why not have a strike. It took a nick and just flew in the top corner. Sometimes you get a bit of luck on your side.
‘It was pretty special. My first for Bolton was one of my favourites and the one for Liverpool against Chelsea was very, very special. The one at Bolton was quite good, so there’s a couple to be fair.’
His first goal for Bolton came in the Carabao Cup in August 2022 against Salford City, a team with strong connections to Manchester United through co-owners David Beckham, Gary Neville and Paul Scholes, so will have gone down well at Anfield.
‘I scored goals at younger ages, not so much in my senior career,’ said Bradley after scoring for the first time in international football, the latest landmark of an astonishing breakthrough season.
‘I’m over the moon,’ he said. ‘It’s one I’ve been dreaming of for quite a while, to score my first international goal and I don’t think even in my dreams it was that good a goal.
‘I was just buzzing and really happy we got the win, it’s massive for our confidence as a team, knowing we can beat a team going to the Euros.
Bradley scored the only goal after cutting inside and curling an effort into the top corner
Michael O’Neill played Bradley in an advanced position in midfield supporting a lone striker
Bradley’s winning goal was the latest landmark in an astonishing breakthrough season
‘The last campaign was a difficult one so for us to beat a really good Scotland team full of Premier League players is really good, and will really help us.
‘The lads were brilliant. It was only a friendly but we battled so well to get the win. We’re still a young team. Still loads of areas we can improve. We’re going the right way, hopefully continue to do that, and do well in the Nations League.’
Bradley returns to Liverpool to turn his attention back to the Premier League title race. It is Brighton next at Anfield, on Sunday, and they are still in the Europa League, chasing the chance to end Jurgen Klopp’s tenure as manager with a trophy in Dublin.
‘That would be pretty special,’ said Bradley. ‘I’ll have a couple of messages for tickets if we do but there’s a long way to go, games to win before we get there. We’ll try our best and try to get as many trophies as we can. We know it’s going to be difficult.
‘I just want to stay grounded as I can, keep my head screwed on. It is all going well for me but I know there’ll be tough patches as well and I know it will be different so I want to keep my head screwed on and keep working hard.’
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