HIGHLY-RATED young midfielder Alex Bradley says he is more determined than ever to one day break into the West Bromwich Albion side after suffering his third major injury.

Since joining the Premier League club at under nines level, the former Royal Grammar School Worcester pupil has become one of their academy’s shining lights as he has received praise from coaches and first-team stars.

But the 16-year-old, who is half-Finnish and has made eight appearances for Finland under 17s, has been left frustrated in recent years as he finds himself recovering from yet another operation.

In September last year, Bradley sustained a stress fracture to his right ankle when playing in a training session with West Brom’s under 21s, which resulted in surgery in December and a lengthy spell on the sidelines.

However, the Colwall teenager has been in this position before and says the experience will only make him stronger.

He suffered a leg break when aged 14 before being ruled out for six weeks with a fractured ankle a year later.

“I have had a lot of bad luck with injuries,” said Bradley, who has attracted interest from Aston Villa, Birmingham City, Bristol City and Cardiff City since his talents were spotted playing for Ledbury Swifts.

“But I would say I am mentally stronger now than I have ever been, so in that sense it has helped me as a player to develop.

“Like the physios have been saying, hopefully all my bad luck is out of the way now and I can just go onwards and upwards from here.”

Bradley, who went to Malvern Parish Primary School, says he has also been receiving advice and support from a number of West Brom’s players.

“I speak to Fletch (Darren Fletcher), Jonas Olsson, Craig Dawson, James Chester and Rickie Lambert on a regular basis and they are really helpful,” he said.

“Serge Gnabry was also really good to me before going back to Arsenal as he gave me good advice and asked me how things were going.

“They just said it was important not to get too down or upset about it and just move on.

“Fletch fractured the bottom of his foot three times and it was not getting any better, so they had to put a plate in it.

“But he said it was the best thing he had ever done and look where that took him — playing for Man United, winning Premier League titles and the Champions League.”

Despite his injuries and the responsibility of cleaning Chester’s boots, Bradley says he is enjoying his time at West Brom and is confident he can achieve his dream of playing at the highest level.

“By the time I am 19 I want to be playing first-team football,” added Bradley, whose mother Heli is from Finland.

“When I was playing, my under 18s coach said the first team had been asking about me and they were keen for me to train with them more, so he said I was on track.

“But then the injury came, so I have got to come back even stronger and impress the coaches and the first team again.”