Liverpool starlet seeking to emulate Van Dijk in new role | OneFootball

Liverpool youngster Conor Bradley wants to “lead by example” like his teammate Virgil van Dijk after being handed the captaincy at international level.

Northern Ireland manager Michael O’Neill has said he will rotate the armband around his squad following Jonny Evans’ retirement from international football in August.

The right-back led the side in heir goalless draw with Belarus last week, and does so again when they face Bulgaria on Tuesday evening.

Bradley is looking to take inspiration from the Liverpool skipper and emulate the defender’s approach to leadership.

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“He’s always one of the best players in training every day and that’s something I aspire to be,” said the 21-year-old.

“How he conducts himself every day, how he leads by example, Virgil is quite a role model.”

Bradley has featured for just 79 minutes across four Premier League games so far this season, with his only start coming in the League Cup. The former Dungannon Swifts player knows he needs more gametime to further his development, while learning as much as he can from his Liverpool teammates.

“It’s a good chance for me to get two 90 minutes under my belt because it’s been limited at my club level,” he said.

“I am still young, I’m not the complete player. I still have to get better at defending, I still have to get better going forward.

“I’m just trying to learn every day off people like Trent [Alexander-Arnold] and Andy Robertson who are world class players. I try to take bits of their game and put it into mine.”

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