Bradley reckons Irish team will just get better

LIVERPOOL’S Connor Bradley believes youth can be a strong point for Northern Ireland as Michael O’Neill’s latest transformation of the team takes shape.

The 20-year-old’s first international goal secured a 1-0 victory over Scotland on Tuesday to continue a promising run of results.

Northern Ireland have followed victory over Denmark in the final Euro 2024 qualifier in November with a draw against Romania in

Bucharest and a first Hampden triumph in 50 years.

O’Neill fielded an inexperienced starting line-up in Glasgow, including five players under the age of 23, and his players responded with a performance full of spirit as they frustrated Scotland.

Bradley said: “We have really taken a lot from this camp. We have worked at our game and how Michael wants us to play. We will take a lot of confidence from the results. We are a young side and we don’t really fear anybody. We just want to play our game.

“At times we can maybe play a bit more football and be a bit braver on the ball, but that will come with a bit of experience and I think we will keep getting better.”

O’Neill has gone through a similar process of blooding young players in international football before, which peaked with qualification for Euro 2016 and two subsequent near-misses.

There is now optimism among the Northern Ireland camp that they can make similar progress ahead of a Nations League campaign in the autumn which sees them face Luxembourg, Bulgaria and Belarus.

“We all knew when Michael came in how good a manager he was,” Bradley said. “Taking a nation of how small we are to a European Championship finals was magnificent, and, hopefully, we can do it in the future.”

Connor Bradley.