Isaac Price has hailed the influence of Northern Ireland’s latest captain Conor Bradley, describing the Liverpool star as an ‘unbelievable footballer’ who is only going to improve.
Bradley, 21, was named as skipper today by manager Michael O’Neill for Saturday’s Nations League game against Belarus in Hungary.
Former Everton player Price has a strong bond on and off the pitch with the Liverpool man and one of the most encouraging aspects for Michael O’Neill’s team in 2024 has been how well the young guns have linked up in attacking areas.
The pair will once again be crucial in the behind closed doors encounter with Belarus.
Price, a regular in the top flight in Belgium with Standard Liege, has been playing alongside Bradley on the international scene since they were both 17 and appreciates what the Anfield ace brings to the team.
“Conor is an unbelievable footballer,” said Price.
“Him playing for us is massive. You can tell that by the way he plays for Northern Ireland. I think we have got that youthfulness about us, where it’s like a don’t-really-care attitude, we’ll try stuff and we’ll take risks.
“His athleticism and his quality on the ball are great for us. Obviously, the last few games we’ve been playing together on the right-hand side, and we feel we have a pretty good relationship.
“We’ve played together since we were 17 for Northern Ireland, so I speak to him quite a lot.
“When we are playing together there are things that can help me and things that can help him like different movements on the ball and off the ball, just to help each other and try and make each other look as good as possible.”
With Steven Davis, Stuart Dallas and Jonny Evans no longer playing for Northern Ireland, Bradley has become the poster boy for the country and has taken on more responsibility on the pitch scoring three times this year.
“He’s got a lot of responsibility really,” adds Price.
“When you look at it he’s maybe got a lot of pressure on him, he’s playing at Liverpool, he’s playing in the Premier League so when he comes here, he’s looked at as the star man.
“But he’s a top, top player and I think as long as he’s around the top players at Liverpool and he’s playing in the Premier League, he’s only going to get better.
“I’m sure he’ll cement his place at Liverpool or at another top club.
“He could have maybe gone out on loan to a team in the Championship or League One, but he chose to stay at Liverpool and he’s a massive help for us in our games.
“Conor is playing with the best players in the world at Liverpool, so when he comes here, it’s a good opportunity for us to learn a little bit of what he’s experiencing at Liverpool.
“Because he’s playing with the likes of Mo Salah, top players who are playing week in, week out in the Premier League, he’s learning off them and we’re learning a little bit off him as well when he comes here.”
Price believes Northern Ireland have an advantage facing Belarus on neutral territory in an empty stadium and must make it count in Saturday’s Nations League clash.
Last month, Michael O’Neill’s team faced an intimidating atmosphere in Plovdiv and lost 1-0 to a fired up Bulgaria.
The volume was turned up high in the City of the Seven Hills, but with no supporters in attendance there will be silence in the stands in Northern Ireland’s latest international at the ZTE Arena stadium in Zalaegerszeg in Hungary.
In 2022, UEFA declared that Belarus would have to play their home games at neutral venues behind closed doors.
The ruling was seen as a sanction for Belarus being involved in the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
For Northern Ireland fans it is a disappointment that they cannot attend through no fault of their own though, on the flip side, it means O’Neill’s side won’t have to face a hostile crowd in Minsk.
Standard Liege star Price said: “Obviously it’s going to be different, but I think it’s going to be to our advantage really. You’re going away from home where they’re not going to have any fans, so it’s only going to help us.
“I think we’ve got enough quality in our squad to go and beat them. It would be nice to get a win there, then come back to Belfast for the game with Bulgaria on Tuesday.”
Two wins out of two for Northern Ireland would put them in control of the group and provide O’Neill’s young team with more confidence that they are on the right track.
It would also increase belief amongst the squad that they could qualify for a major tournament.
Price already has plenty on that score.
“I think we’ve got the potential to go and do really well in major tournaments,” he says.
“I don’t think we can only qualify for them, but I think we can compete in them as well.
“Looking at the players we’ve got, we’ve got youth. We’re probably a little bit naive where we don’t really think about games as much as maybe some of the old lads do and the importance of them. We more just go and play and enjoy the experience.
“But as you can see we’re getting experience now. We’ve got 20, 21-year-olds who’ve got 15, 20 caps under their belts already, which is really massive for us.
“You don’t find many nations that give the opportunity that we’re getting at the moment and I think that’s only going to help us for when it does come to qualifying for the major tournaments.”
Northern Ireland entered this year’s Nations League knowing they had a poor record in the competition and a determination to end a dismal run of results. That was achieved with an opening night 2-0 win over Luxembourg prior to the loss in Bulgaria
“Michael said these are proper games for us and games we need to go and win because it could really help us for when we need to qualify for tournaments,” stated Price.
“If you top your group, you go into a better group. Then it gives you the opportunity to qualify for tournaments.
“I think we’ve got a team that wants to prove themselves in games, even if they are just friendlies.
“We’ve got a lot of competition in the team. We’ve got players that always want to play and when you have competition like that, it makes you better.
“You can see by our previous games, we’ve beaten some good nations, nations that have played in good major tournaments, like the Euros.
“We beat a good Danish team (at Windsor Park in Euro 2024 qualifying) and we gave them a good game at their place as well when we got beat 1-0 so, yeah, I think we’ve got the ability to go and do something.”
Price is in his second season with Standard Liege, revelling in the experience of playing for one of the biggest clubs in Belgium.
“I don’t think I really realised that until I got over there and I don’t think you can really understand until you experience it, until you go and watch a game or until you’re playing in it,” said the ex-Everton player.
“It’s just completely different, the fans, the atmosphere over there, the passion for football. I didn’t realise how big of a club maybe it was, but ever since I’ve been there, it’s been great.
“It’s been a good football experience. I’ve played so many games and I’ve learned so much from the league and from opposition teams and players and hopefully I’ll just keep getting better and improving.”
Quizzed on whether he intends staying with Liege for a few more years, Price replied: “I think at the moment, I’m getting good game time and I feel like I’m developing pretty well.
“We’ve had a lot of new players coming in this year, so we’re a little bit inexperienced and maybe a little bit young, but as long as I’m playing and improving, I think I’ll stay there for a couple of years.
“Then hopefully I’ll get a good move, either back to England or to another good league.”