Northern Ireland's Conor Bradley 'buzzing to be back' in Liverpool side

The former Dungannon United Youth player, who joined Liverpool in September 2019, signed a fresh long-term contract with the Anfield giants across the past week.

Thursday’s Europa League meeting with LASK also delivered a major moment for the 20-year-old as Bradley stepped off the substitutes’ bench for a welcome return to first-team football following back problems sustained over pre-season.

Bradley told Liverpoolfc.com post-match: "Buzzing to be back. It's been frustrating and a long couple of months out injured, so buzzing to be back.

"I just want to help the team as much as I can and I just need to try to stay available as much as I can. There's loads of games coming up, so hopefully there'll be plenty of chances for me."

Regarding the injury, Bradley added: "I just had a sore back. I did a running session in the morning, came in (with) a sore back, got a scan and had a stress fracture in my back.

"I knew then it would be 12 weeks or so out injured, so it was a hard one to take. But thankfully I'm back now and happy.

"I was really enjoying pre-season, I thought I was doing quite well as well. It was a difficult time when it came but I've worked hard, got myself back and I'm buzzing to be back."

Bradley replaced Ryan Gravenberch against LASK in a 4-0 win secured off Cody Gakpo’s brace and goals from Luis Diaz and Mohamed Salah.

"It was a really good team performance," Bradley said. "To get the four goals and also the clean sheet is really good. We've topped the group now, so we're all buzzing."