Michael O'Neill says the emergence of Conor Bradley helped "reignite" his enthusiasm on his return to the Northern Ireland manager's job.
As one of the main contributors to " target="_blank" class="link"> The Anfield Wrap's excellent new documentary 'From Aghyaran To Anfield', which details Bradley's rise from those early days in County Tyrone to playing at the very highest level of the game, O'Neill reveals the impact the 21-year-old has had on him.
The defender was very much on O'Neill's radar and he tried to sign him at club level before Bradley went on to be a key player for him at international level.
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"When I came back into the Northern Ireland job in December 2023 it was difficult and I was unsure what the group of players would look like," explained O'Neill.
"We had just lost Steven Davis to an ACL injury, Stuart Dallas was out with a long-term injury, and the older players were hanging on by their fingertips really.
"The version of them I was going to get was not the version I had anticipated from three or four years previously.
"When I was manager at Stoke I had spoken to Barry Hunter about bringing Conor in on loan and they told me that they didn't think he was ready for the Championship.
"I remember going to watch him in the December or January when he was at Bolton in League One and he was more than ready then. That really ignited my enthusiasm for the job a little bit."
The documentary is a fascinating watch and really charts Bradley's love and appetite for the game from those tender years playing at St Patrick's FC through his underage years with Northern Ireland before going on to captaining his country and becoming a key member of Liverpool's first team squad.
His first coach at St Patrick's, Rory Lynch, as well as Declan Devine and Gerard Boyle, who were Elite Development Coaches at Club NI, remember those early years when even then Bradley's desire and ability shone through.
Conor and his mum Linda were fully behind the project much to the delight of Craig Hannan from The Anfield Wrap, he said: "We wanted to use our global audience to tell the story of and celebrate a kid from home’s journey to Liverpool."
You can watch the full documentary on " target="_blank" class="link"> The Anfield Wrap's YouTube channel from 12 noon today.
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