Burnley boss Vincent Kompany reacts to Lyle Foster's exclusion from South Africa's AFCON squad

The 23-year-old surprisingly featured in their preliminary 50-man squad earlier this month ahead of the upcoming tournament, which takes place in Ivory Coast from January 13 to February 11.

But after the initial squad was announced, Kompany revealed Foster was in no position to link up with his country due to his ongoing mental health battle.

At the start of November, the Clarets confirmed Foster would be taking an indefinite break from football to receive specialist treatment.

The striker has since returned to action, featuring in Burnley’s last three games, but the medical experts insist he still can’t travel.

“It’s a very sensible decision from the South African FA, in terms of definitely supporting the advice of the experts,” Kompany said.

“We didn’t have Lyle available for a month or more because we tried to put him first. Part of his rehabilitation is being part of a small environment but doing his job as well, playing football, because that’s part of what makes him happy in life.

“It’s just with the travelling and everything else, the people who advised us throughout this period just didn’t think it was the time yet for Lyle.

“In the end, collectively, we’re doing something that is good for a South African human being before we call it a South African player. We’re taking care of him and looking after him and he will be ready to perform for his country at some point. This is just part of his process.”