Vincent Kompany on what Lyle Foster's Burnley return means for striker's AFCON availability

Last week the Burnley boss was adamant the 23-year-old wouldn’t be linking up with his national team despite being named in South Africa’s preliminary 50-man squad.

Two days later, Foster was a surprise inclusion on Burnley’s bench for the game against Everton, where he came off the bench to make his first appearance in 10 weeks.

At the start of November, the club announced that Foster would be taking an indefinite break from football to receive specialist treatment for his mental wellbeing.

However, specialists believed it was important to keep Foster in his normal environment and felt being back among his teammates would be beneficial.

Physically, Kompany felt Foster was only able to play 45-60 minutes and will now need to step up his fitness over the coming weeks.

But despite the striker making his return to match action, the Burnley boss insists he won’t be available for January’s tournament in the Ivory Coast.

“It’s not even my decision, it’s not up to me. He just can’t. It’s the medical advice we’re getting at the moment,” he said.

“The conflict of course is that he loves to play for his country. Even from my side, the AFCON is a big trophy, it’s a big competition. It’s important for me as an African coach to support the competition, but it’s not up to me. I just relay.

“We’ve done everything for the human being to this point, there’s no reason to change all of a sudden now.”