Conor Bradley knows where he must improve after taking inspiration from 3 Liverpool teammates

Conor Bradley has hailed Liverpool skipper Virgil van Dijk as his inspiration as he captains Northern Ireland.

As he prepares to captain his country in their clash against Bulgaria, Bradley, 21, looks up to Van Dijk for his impeccable standards at Liverpool . With only 21 caps to his name, Bradley is set to wear the armband for the second time, emphasizing Van Dijk's influence on his leadership approach.

"My captain at the club, Virgil, is quite a role model with the way he conducts himself every day," Bradley remarked. "In training, he's always one of the best players. That's someone I aspire to be in how he conducts himself every day and how he leads by example. He would probably be one of the main role models for me."

With his family poised to watch from the stands, Bradley is excited to captain his country at home during the Nations League Group C3 match. Reflecting on his first experience as captain in the game against Belarus, he said, "It was just a surreal experience on Saturday. I'm just focused on Bulgaria to be honest and we want to beat them and climb above them in the group."

Kicking on every chance he gets, Bradley also notes the importance of his time with Northern Ireland, especially when he may not be a first-team regular at Liverpool. Under the guidance of Anfield aces like Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson, as well as learning under coach Arne Slot, Bradley is determined to keep growing as a player.

"Everyone knows how much I love coming away, I just really enjoy it," he reflected happily. "It's a good chance for me to get two 90 minutes under my belt because it's been sort of limited at club level."

"Obviously I'm still young, I'm not the complete player, I still have to get better at defending, better at going forward. I'm just trying to learn every day off people like Trent and Andy, who're world-class players. Try to take bits of their games and put them into mine."

Despite being handed the captain's armband, Bradley doesn't want to pause and ponder over his remarkable year for both club and country. He modestly insists, "I always try to focus on what's next,".

Driven by ambition, Bradley asserts, "I don't really like sitting and reflecting and sitting still. I just want to keep going, keep progressing and just keep getting better. So I just try to keep going and keep working hard every day, make sure I do the same things and hopefully I'll just keep going.

"I think it just improves me. Obviously, international football's different to club football, especially when you go away from home and stuff like that. We have to learn how to keep clean sheets and win games when we go away from home.

"It is different, but I really do enjoy the challenge every time I come away. I relish being able to play two games for my country."