Lyle Foster’s season goes from bad to worse

Lyle Foster’s Premier League debut season has gone from bad to worse after suffering yet another setback. Burnley FC manager Vincent Kompany has announced that the South African faces months on the sidelines. The Clarets boss told Burnley Express newspaper that the striker has been ruled out of action due to an injury. The Bafana Bafana forward was a notable absentee last weekend when the strugglers lost 3-1 to Liverpool. Earlier, Kompany had indicated that the footballer had muscle injury.

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Lyle Foster’s latest setback explained at Burnley FC

In the latest development, the Manchester City legend told the newspaper that Lyle Foster’s leg injury was more severe than earlier thought. The coach, therefore, said his player would miss action for a prolonged period. He did not specify the exact time frame for a return to action. The former Orlando Pirates man will not be involved when Burnley FC face Arsenal this weekend. “He [Lyle Foster] won’t be available [for this weekend’s game against Arsenal], he had surgery on a chronic issue that needed resolving,” Kompany told Burnley Express newspaper. “It’s not season over but he’ll certainly miss out for a period of time.”

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What Lyle Foster’s latest development at Burnley FC mean

The injury is a fresh setback for the 23-year-old who saw his bright start to the Premier League debut season slowed down. He took a break from football for seven weeks due to mental health issues late last year. The illness forced Lyle Foster to excuse himself from the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) finals in Ivory Coast. However, most South Africans and Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos were not amused that the player was still able to feature for Burnley FC. Fans believe the performance of the 1996 Afcon champions could have even been better in Ivory with the top target man around.

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Broos still searching for answers on the forward’s excuse

Broos told TimesLive that he was still looking for answers as to how Lyle Foster is still playing for Burnley FC. The 71-year-old said: “Lyle Foster himself wrote a letter to say, ‘Please don’t call me because I am not ready to play Afcon. But then he starts playing for his club. He plays every game for 90 minutes. I am asking myself ‘why it wasn’t possible for him to come with us to Ivory Coast.”

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How the striker’s absence affected Bafana Bafana at Afcon

“This is my frustration, but I will not blame anyone. I am frustrated when I see him play because we could have used him at Afcon. He is a good striker and he scores. If we had Lyle, we were going to be much stronger.” Bafana Bafana competed strongly at the just-ended Afcon. South Africa won a bronze eve in the absence of the Johannesburg-born player. It was the first time in over two decades that the team reached the semifinals.

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