'I am not happy': South Africa boss questions why Burnley's Lyle Foster wasn't available for AFCON

The 23-year-old was prevented from linking up with his national side for the tournament, citing the need to prioritise his mental health concerns.

It comes after Foster missed seven weeks of action earlier in the season, taking an indefinite break in order to receive specialist treatment.

Foster himself wrote to the South African FA informing them he wasn’t ready to feature at AFCON, a tournament that was held in Ivory Coast.

Doctors also advised Foster that he needed to remain in familiar surroundings, while playing football – the sport he loves – was also key to keeping him happy.

Since then, Foster has regularly featured for Vincent Kompany’s side, making eight appearances since his return in mid-December. The striker was, however, missing against Liverpool last weekend with a muscle injury.

Last week, it was reported in South Africa that the country’s FA were to launch an investigation into why Foster was not able to be part of Bafana Bafana's AFCON squad.

And now South Africa’s head coach Broos, who is well known to Kompany having handed him his debut at Anderlecht, has expressed his frustration with the situation.

“Honestly, I am not happy, I knew from the beginning what the problems were,” Broos said, as quoted by Times Live.

“I knew and I was understanding [of the situation] because I spoke a few times with Vincent Kompany.

“Our doctor spoke to his counterpart at Burnley. We put everything together and decided it was not a good thing to call Foster for AFCON.

“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 and 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.

“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.”