Germany v Northern Ireland: Conor Bradley aims to give Liverpool team-mate Florian Wirtz a ‘difficult night’ in Cologne

Germany come into Sunday’s game off the back of Thursday’s surprise 2-0 loss to Slovakia to start their qualifying campaign with Bradley believing it is a result that leaves the race to make it to next year’s World Cup from Pool A “wide open”.

“Shocked, probably, to start with,” he said of his reaction to hearing news of Slovakia’s win after coming off the pitch in Luxembourg.

“I think you can look at it both ways. I think it’s good and bad. Obviously, that means the group’s wide open now which is good for us [and] if we can get a positive result it’s only good for us.”

Germany’s latest loss means it is three defeats on the spin for Julian Nagelsmann’s side, but Bradley is in no doubt about the enduring quality of the four-time World Cup winners.

“It’s going to be a really difficult test. Germany are one of the top nations in the whole world,” he added.

“They’ve got some top players, so it’s always nice going up against top players and seeing where you’re at compared to them.

“Obviously with the result the other night for them, they’re going to be bang at it from the start so we’ve got to stick together and I think we’re in with a good chance.”