Liverpool head coach Arne Slot has confirmed that Northern Ireland international Conor Bradley has returned to training for the first time since late-November.
The defender collected a knee injury in Liverpool’s Champions League victory over Real Madrid at Anfield, that saw Bradley lauded for his incredible tackle on World Cup winner Kylian Mbappe. While it’s unlikely Bradley will be fit enough to play in Sunday’s Premier League clash with Manchester United, the FA Cup tie with Accrington Stanley on Saturday January 11 is a realistic target for the Tyrone native.
Slot said: “Conor and Ibou (Konate) will train with us today for the first time so I’m interested to see where they exactly are.
“They have worked hard to come back to the team but the next step is always ‘how do you handle team sessions?’.”
Bradley may become a vital player for Liverpool if first-choice right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold joins Real Madrid when his contract expires at the end of the season.
Slot, however, said Alexander-Arnold is fully focused on Sunday’s game with Manchester United.
“I completely understand the question and why you ask it, but you already know the answer: these conversations I have never shared, not about Trent, not about any others, about what I talk to them about,” he said.
“It was a conversation as many others we had, me and Trent, so let’s leave it at that.
“I can tell you he is playing on Sunday and hopefully he brings the same performances as he brought in for the last half-year, because everybody saw how great a first half of the season he had, how much he is here, how much he wants to win here.
“I see him on the training ground every day working his ass off. He is fully committed to us and he will play on Sunday.
“If it would destabilise players at Liverpool if other people talk about them, then we would really have a problem because if you play at one of the biggest clubs in the world everybody is always – for 12 months long – talking about you, sometimes in relation to other clubs.
“That happens so many times for our players, so if that destabilises them then we really would have had a problem, not only now but in the last six months because there were some talks about our players in the last six months and I don’t think it destabilised them at all.”
Slot was more forthcoming on an injury to Joe Gomez, whose eight-match run in the side deputising for the injured Konate has come to an end due to a hamstring problem sustained in the weekend win at West Ham.
“Joe is, of course, not in a good place when it comes to his injury. He is out for a few weeks, that’s for sure,” said Slot.