Conor Bradley: Scoring Northern Ireland winner against Scotland ...

The Liverpool star has been in sensational form for his club in 2024 and carried on in that vein in the international window with a fantastic display from right wing back in last week’s 1-1 draw in Romania, followed by another stirring performance playing further forward in Tuesday's triumph in Glasgow.

Bradley’s goal came after 32 minutes when he took advantage of a mistake by Nathan Patterson, seizing the ball just outside the Scottish penalty area before powering his way inside the area with intent in his body and imagination in his mind, and then letting fly with a right foot belter that took a slight deflection off Jack Hendry and sailed beyond Angus Gunn into the net.

How Bradley, who was well used to scoring goals as a boy and netted a few on loan at Bolton last season, enjoyed that magic moment.

So too the Northern Ireland fans jumping for joy behind the goal with the 20-year-old racing towards them, celebrating with a knee slide, just as he did in January at Anfield when grabbing his first Liverpool goal in a 4-1 Premier League success over Chelsea.

That was a belter, though when asked if his international strike was the best of his life so far, Bradley said: “Yeah, probably. Definitely, actually. It would definitely be the best one I’ve scored, especially at Hampden Park and the travelling support right behind me, it was pretty special.

“My first for Bolton was one of my favourites, and obviously the one against Chelsea because to score at Anfield was very special. There’s a couple up there.”

For the Tyrone native, it was dream come true stuff and even better than he thought it could be, with victory for Northern Ireland making it all the more sweeter.

"I'm over the moon. I've been dreaming for quite a while about scoring my first international goal," said Bradley.

"I don't think in any of my dreams it was that good a goal but I'm buzzing and very happy we got the win.

“I remember we lost the ball and I tried to win it back as quickly as I could and it came to my feet. I took a touch and the whole far corner just opened up for me and I thought 'why not just have a strike', and I took the strike and it took a little nick and went in the top corner. Sometimes you need a bit of luck on your side and thankfully I got that.

"It was brilliant that the fans were right beside me in the corner, so it was quite a short distance for me to go and do a knee slide in front of them. That was special. The support from the fans was just outstanding. I thought they were with us all the way through the game. They were unbelievable."

On his team-mates, Bradley added: "Everybody to a man was brilliant. We defended our box so well and we picked the right times to play and the right times to get forward.

"Hopefully this result will build everyone's confidence. We know we are a good team but we also know there are a lot of improvements to be made to make us an even better team and we are looking forward to the next games (in June) and the Nations League and hopefully we can do well in that."

A regular in Liverpool’s first team since an impressive cameo role as a substitute against Arsenal in the FA Cup in January, Bradley’s continues to go from strength to strength at club and international level.

Classy on the field, he is the same off it with a wonderful attitude, work ethic and humility to go with his ability and athleticism and a determination to improve.

“I want to stay as grounded as I can and keep my head screwed on,” he says.

“It is going well for me but I know there will be tough patches as well so I’ll keep working hard.

“I still think there are a lot of improvements to be made, and with my performance against Scotland there are a lot of places I could have improved.

“It was a different position for me playing further forward but it’s something I want to add to my game that I can play there and I can do well for the team, so I still think there’s loads of improvements to be made and hopefully I can do that.”

Bradley spoke about his disappointment that Liverpool team-mate and Scotland captain Andy Robertson went off injured in the first half at Hampden.

“I was disappointed for Andy. Hopefully it is nothing serious and he recovers quickly,” said Bradley.

“Andy is massive for us at Liverpool. He’s been one of the best left backs in the Premier League over the last 10 years and he is such a good help to me in my career. I learn so much from him.”

After his Hampden heroics, next up for Bradley is a return to Anfield and a vital top flight encounter with Brighton on Sunday just before other title contenders Arsenal and Manchester City go head to head.

In Jurgen Klopp’s last season in charge of Liverpool, Bradley has already helped the Reds win the Carabao Cup and will do all he can in the remaining weeks of the campaign for Premier League and Europa League glory.

“Every game between now and the end of the season is going to be massive,” said Bradley.

“It will be tough against Brighton because they are a good side but we are looking forward to it.”