MICHAEL O’Neill hopes Conor Bradley will remain around the Northern Ireland squad as their World Cup play-off date with Italy nears. Should Northern Ireland win that March 26 play-off semi-final, they would face another away day against either Wales or Bosnia-Herzegovina for a World Cup spot. O’Neill admitted losing Bradley was “a huge blow” but hopes that – subject to approval from Liverpool – the 22-year-old could be part of the party travelling to Bergamo. “The one thing about Conor is he’s had the captaincy, he is very much part of the group,” said the Northern Ireland boss, speaking at the launch of the Sport 4 Peace project in Belfast on Wednesday. “The thing is that the World Cup comes around every four years.