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Conor Bradley believes his success in League One this season has been down to using his head.
The Liverpool loanee is pleased with the progress he has made since arriving at Bolton in the summer for what would be the first serious test of his professional career.
The Northern Irishman has scored six goals and been virtually ever-present in Ian Evatt’s line-up as a right-sided wing-back.
But he admits the physicality of football at this level did take him by surprise at first, and in an interview with The Bolton News he revealed what has helped him stay ahead.
“It hasn’t been easy for me,” he told us. “I’d guess most players in this division are bigger and stronger than I am.
“But I have had to use my brain to try and out-think some of them. I hope I have done that quite well so far, trying to move away from the physical part of the game and trying to be a bit smarter where I can.
“Definitely the way we play has been important. I can get myself into the box, get into good positions on the ball, but you have to stay switched on or otherwise you’ll just get swallowed up.”
Bradley’s improvement has been closely monitored by Liverpool’s staff, including director of loan management David Woodfine, which gives an indication of just how highly they rated the 19-year-old.
Wanderers’ training methods and facilities had to be deemed good enough last summer for the club to even agree a season-long deal, which will continue in January despite interest from a handful of Championship clubs who were hoping he could be called back.
The player himself has immersed himself in his new surroundings, even remarking recently that his Christmas wish would be to see Wanderers get promoted.
Whilst his parent club remain watchful, Bradley says life outside the Premier League bubble has given him some important lessons for the future.
“I honestly do think I have improved massively,” he said. “But it was hard at the start. Knowing you have to come in every day and really work hard, every single day, or you just don’t start at the weekend.
“It is how you conduct yourself, stay on your game all the time. It has been a massive learning curve for me, it really has.
“The coaches at Liverpool are checking on me all the time and that’s great because I’m still part of their plans. They are glad to see me going well.
“I feel like I have come on leaps and bounds since my first game. I have become a better player and I hope that continues for the rest of year because I have loved every minute of being at Bolton.”
The teenager still seeks improvement. And while his manager joked that heading practice might be on the cards after a glaring miss against Exeter City last weekend, Bradley does feel he can offer the team more in front of goal.
“I want to improve on the final third because I do think I can be better there,” he said. “Most parts of my game I am happy with the way they are going but that is the one I will be focussing on, a few more goals and assists to help Bolton. Hopefully then we can have some success as well.”
Bradley’s talent might have been a surprise to League One teams at the start of the season but managers have quickly cottoned on that he can be one of Bolton’s most potent attacking threats.
That has sometimes meant coming up against gameplans designed exclusively to deny the youngster the space he craves out wide, and, more often than not, physical marking by one or more opponent.
Evatt hopes the left side of his attack – be it Liverpool team-mate Owen Beck, Jack Iredale or Declan John – can thrive when Bradley is given more attention.
“If it is always going down the right then teams can read it,” said the youngster. “If you can get things down both flanks then it will be hard to stop.
“I thought (against Exeter) we were great down the left side and Jack always tell me to get on that back post.
“Dapo was drifting across, he played really well, and they were whipping crosses in from that side which makes it easy to get chances if you get in the right places.
“We defended better and stopped the run of conceding goals early, which was a big part of what we did during the week. I thought we started well and got the goal, which really helped us.
“Overall, I just thought it was a really good performance.”
Tough tests lie ahead for the Whites, starting with the visit of Derby County on December 27.
“I can’t wait,” Bradley added. “It’s a big month for us with some difficult fixtures but we just want as many points as we can and then see where we are from there, push on in the New Year.”
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