Conor Bradley will not link up with his Northern Ireland teammates during the upcoming international break as he continues to deal with a hamstring injury.
Northern Ireland is due to face Switzerland in a Belfast friendly on March 21 before traveling to Stockholm for another friendly, against Sweden, on March 25.
Liverpool right-back Bradley has started in each of his country’s last 10 matches, scoring four times in the process, and even captaining the side in Nations League games against Belarus and Bulgaria in October.
However, he will not make the short trip across the Irish Sea next week — at least not in a sporting capacity — due to an injury he sustained last month.
Bradley emerged as a second-half substitute in Liverpool’s 2-2 draw against Aston Villa on February 19 but had to be replaced just 23 minutes after coming on after pulling up.
The right-back has not appeared since, and Arne Slot revealed that he was not close to returning when he last addressed the youngster’s situation, ahead of Liverpool’s game against Newcastle two weeks ago.
“Conor Bradley isn’t ok,” Slot said. “He is out for a few weeks. It is clear that he went off with a muscle injury and it will take a while before he is back.”
Bradley is one of three players who are currently injured, with Joe Gomez and Tyler Morton also sidelined: Gomez is unavailable after undergoing hamstring surgery, while youngster Morton has a shoulder problem.
Cody Gakpo was recently sidelined but returned to training earlier this week ahead of Liverpool’s Champions League game versus Paris Saint-Germain. “Yeah he will be in the squad,” Reds boss Slot said of Gakpo. “He trained today for the first time,”
Although Gakpo is set to be in the Liverpool squad against PSG, he is unlikely to start considering he is has not lined up since the Merseyside derby on February 12.
