"We’ve got a fully available squad,” confirms Burnley boss Vincent Kompany, who also cleared up Lyle Foster complications

The leading contender for the Sky Bet Championship Manager of the Year award has had all his senior players involved for the first time in a long time.

Jay Rodriguez and Josh Brownhill are unlikely to feature in Friday night's game against Sunderland at Turf Moor, but the pair have been back on the grass with the group as they close in on a return to action.

Defender Hjalmar Ekdal has trained as normal after being replaced at the break in Sweden's 5-0 win over Azerbaijan in their Euro 24 qualifier at the Friends Arena while Taylor Harwood-Bellis has been declared as fully fit following a spell on the sidelines.

After welcoming 13 players back from international duty, Kompany said: "It’s always something you’re a little bit cautious about, not concerned, but I’ve been in national teams myself before.

"You’ve got one way of working and then you’re sending 15 players to go and work in 15 different ways and that’s always something that you hope your players come through okay.

"But in the end, the positive side, especially at our level, is they get some international experience and it’s good to see Josh Cullen play against France, Obafemi being involved. That’s good for their own personal development as well.”

Striker Lyle Foster is the only absentee from the squad after experiencing complications with his passport on his return from duty.

South Africa played Liberia on both occasions, with the January signing scoring a brace in the first meeting in Johannesburg, but he has been unable to fly home from the reverse fixture of their AFCON qualifying campaign, which took place across the continent.

Kompany concluded: “Everyone is back and fit but Foster has had a little bit of an issue getting back, I think something to do with passports. So he’s fit and healthy which is more important, but we’ve got still one player to come back.

“Other than the passport issue, we’ve got a fully available squad and still waiting a little bit on recovering Jay Rod. But it’s just now discussions about match fitness, discussions about form but a nice and busy training session.”