Conor Bradley's run of Liverpool appearances in January has included a string of wins and assists by the Northern Ireland right-back. A former youth coach at Dungannon, Dixie Robinson, has highlighted the pride felt back home in that progress and Bradley's impact on the next generation.
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00:00 It was fantastic. I think everybody around the club are really proud of Conor and what
00:05 he's achieved. To come back from injury and get into the starting eleven of the Premier
00:09 League game is a magnificent achievement for the lad.
00:13 He's made great progress since he moved over there but obviously Trent Alexander-Arnold's
00:17 injuries opened the door but he's really come in and grabbed it with both hands.
00:22 Yeah, before he got injured I was sort of jealous when he was out in the club and the
00:27 club really had a leg in the car. I thought that year ended both and Loane was going to
00:33 bring him on and he certainly did. Loane's not always worked out but for Conor, gladly
00:38 it did and he's back there and he's punching well. But his rate for a 20-year-old boy is
00:43 a great achievement.
00:44 It must be a great inspiration for the work that you guys are doing at Dungan United Youth
00:48 and for this current crop of players coming through.
00:52 Yeah, to be fair the lads that come from Dungan United Youth now go on to the Swiss then when
00:56 they're over 14 now. To see Conor, they're probably more familiar with Conor than what
01:01 it would have been with the players I would have known back in my day. You see the kids
01:06 coming in to our indoor community programme with Bradley on the back of their shirts.
01:11 It's really, really nice to see and hopefully we can get another one in the near future
01:16 but that'll take something to top what Conor has done.
01:19 Excellent and you obviously know Conor and the family really well and I'm sure you're
01:24 not surprised with how settled he appears and how he's just taken everything in stride.
01:29 He was flawless, enthusiastic and I remember him playing for us in a friendly game and
01:36 he asked me to go to a weight and let the keeper out for a wee bit. He's just that type
01:40 of guy. He was infectious within the group but his energy levels and his athleticism
01:44 was something else. You would have to say you're surprised that he's playing for a
01:50 club like Liverpool at 20. It's helping really quickly for him and that just shows you the
01:55 type of player and the type of lad he is.
01:57 You said you're delighted to see his progress and it's just great to see somebody from
02:02 over here make that kind of development and step forward.
02:04 Yeah, I think there's a great pathway now for players from Northern Ireland, young
02:09 players, to get that opportunity. Obviously you see the likes of the Treadhune going across
02:16 the water, ourselves with OisĂn Smith and Terry Devlin over there. We've also other
02:20 boys, Michael Forbes has just signed a new contract with West Ham. We've Sam Ondeson,
02:26 Ryan Donnelly, Oren Donnelly, Sean McAllister's at Everton. Those boys all played with Connor.
02:31 There's five of them were in the 2018 Victory Sheen winning team. So four of them are across
02:37 the water playing full-time football now and it's really great to see.
02:41 Brilliant. It sort of makes all the dedication and hard work worthwhile, eh?
02:45 Yeah, listen, you get to make time in life, you know what I mean. You're involved here
02:50 with the first team and everything's about results and the importance of getting the
02:54 win on a Saturday. When you can reflect for a wee while and look at the players doing
02:59 really well across the water, it certainly gives you a lot of pleasure.
03:02 Brilliant, thanks.