Conor Bradley: The ball would not go in the net for Northern Ireland
Conor Bradley was left mystified as to how Northern Ireland failed to score in Saturday’s goalless Nations League draw against Belarus as he reflected on a proud night captaining his country for the first time.
Bradley had the ball in the net just nine minutes into the match in Zalaegerszeg but saw it ruled out for an offside, and it turned into a frustrating night at the ZTE Arena as Belarus withstood a first-half onslaught to grind out a point.
But for the scoreline, it was another encouraging display from this young Northern Ireland side as a new attacking identity emerges.
“I thought the performance was really good, we played some really good stuff, especially in the first half,” Bradley said.
“Some of the patterns of play we’ve been working on came to fruition out there, it’s just really disappointing not to get the three points.
“I think it’s one of the best performances we’ve had for a while but the ball would not go in the back of the net.
“I think if we’d have got one we could have got three or four. At least we didn’t lose the game. I thought we did really well to keep a clean sheet and we go again on Tuesday (against Bulgaria).
“I think we know how good we are, and we know how good we can be. We’re still a young team, we’re still learning.
“Definitely the potential is there and if we all get clicking together we can be a good team. We’re all really looking forward to the future. We’re just trying to get the wins and the performances.”
Michael O’Neill gave the skipper’s armband to 21-year-old Bradley for the game, continuing his policy of rotating the captaincy throughout this Nations League campaign as he looks for a new leader to emerge following the international retirement of Jonny Evans.
If there was a regret for Bradley, it was that his moment came in a game played behind closed doors due to the restrictions on Belarus.
When Trai Hume got the captaincy last month, he kept it for both fixtures, but Bradley said he does not yet know if he will get the honour when Bulgaria visit Windsor Park on Tuesday.
“I’m just extremely proud,” the Liverpool player said.
“It was pretty surreal walking out with the boys behind me and having the armband on during the game was pretty special.
“I think it will be a bit nicer if fans are there, but we’ll leave that down to Michael to see who he thinks should be the captain on Tuesday.”