Burnley head coach Vincent Kompany says Bafana Bafana striker Lyle Foster is not ready to play for the national team yet.
The 23-year-old has been given time off by his club Burnely since October after battling with mental issues.
The Bafana star was included in Hugo Broos’ preliminary African Cup of Nations squad for next year.
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Kompany however said Foster was not in a position to join the Bafana team ahead of next year’s Afcon which starts mid January.
“Unfortunately at the moment he’s not in a position where he can go to the national team, he just can’t,” he said, as quoted by the Burnley Express.
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Foster not ready yet, says Burnley boss
“It’s not something he can do at the moment, going away for a long time and being in a very different environment.
“His love for his country has no limits and his desire to do well has no limits, but that would be going against the advice of every expert who has been assisting him in recent months,” Kompany said.
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Burnely has been working hard on Foster’s physical fitness while he has not been playing and should be in a good condition should he be ready for Afcon.
Kompany has not ruled the former Orlando Pirates forward from representing his country at next year’s event but the chances are Foster won’t be risked by Burnely.
“I’m a coach from African origin so the AFCON is very important and I feel very proud of any player representing us there because that tournament deserves the same importance as the Euros.
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“But for his condition specifically, the human being, which is the person we’ve treated in the past month, he’s not at a stage yet where he can do any of that.”
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