‘He was not with us’: Klopp explains why ‘real fighter’ hasn’t been training with Liverpool in recent weeks

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Jurgen Klopp explained this week why we haven’t seen Conor Bradley at Liverpool lately. The right-back has been in and out of the squad.

This season has been a breakthrough one for Conor Bradley at Liverpool. We’ve seen him play with some decent minutes for a teenager. In fact, Bradley isn’t just a teenager but one who plays the same position as Trent Alexander-Arnold – the world’s best in their position.

That makes it incredibly difficult to break into the side but Bradley has still managed three starts in the cup competitions this season. The question now, though, is will we see him later today against Nottingham Forest?

Alexander-Arnold is out injured, after all, while Liverpool clearly trust Bradley against Championship opposition. Put those two things together and the Northern Ireland international seems like a natural selection choice.

It doesn’t sound as though that’s the case, however, as Jurgen Klopp explained in a press conference this weekend. Bradley hasn’t actually be training with the seniors.

“Conor, top boy, all good,” said Klopp, per Liverpoolfc.com. “Because we had a full squad in the last [few] weeks, he was not with us all the time.

“Obviously, we had the spell where he was pretty much in all sessions with us, but not now in the last few weeks. So, I cannot say now exactly how he [has] developed in the last few weeks because he was not here.

“But, from the things I know and what I saw, [he is] a wonderful, talented boy with a big heart. A real fighter, and it’s a joy to have him around – that’s what I can say.”

Conor Bradley at Liverpool

It doesn’t sound as though we’ll see Bradley today. In fact, we might not see him again this season if the squad remains this strong. James Milner and Joe Gomez will likely cover right-back, with Liverpool assessing Bradley again in the summer.

We do know Liverpool are high on Bradley, though. He’s still very much a young player and one who has extremely experienced seniors ahead of him. It’ll take time before there are serious minutes for him in the first-team, let alone in big cup ties.

The future is bright but it’ll take patience right now.