Lyle Foster faces late fitness test for Burnley

Burnley FC's South African star Lyle Foster faces a late fitness test for Saturday's Sky Bet Championship match against struggling Portsmouth United.

SP on Lyle Foster & Connor Roberts

💬: "Both are close, they have been on the training pitch this week but we will have to make late calls with regards to them." pic.twitter.com/nYUcqs1sHV

— Burnley FC (@BurnleyOfficial) September 20, 2024

The former Orlando Pirates forward returned to England in time after representing his country in the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers last week.

Foster scored in the hard-fought home two-all draw for Bafana Bafana against Uganda then featured in the 3-2 win over South Sudan on the road in Group K qualifiers.

Lyle Foster's header in the East Lancashire Derby has been voted as the @Rapidz_io Goal of the Month for August 🚀

Thank you to all those who voted 🗳️ pic.twitter.com/mClX7ZgLpX

— Burnley FC (@BurnleyOfficial) September 10, 2024

However, the Clarets coach Scott Parker still left out the former Amajita starlet from Burnley's starting line-up after he had flown back to his second- tier club.

In a post-match interview with Burnley Express newspaper, Parker said Foster missed last weekend's match against Leeds United due to an Illness. The Clarets won the away game 1-0.

"Both are close, both have been on the training ground this week,” Parker told the newspaper.

“We’ll make late calls on both of them regarding tomorrow’s game.”

The Clarets will on Saturday also be without Bashir Humphreys, who was shown two yellow cards at Elland Road last week.

Burnley also have injury absentees such as Jordan Beyer, Hjalmar Ekdal, Hannes Delcroix, Aaron Ramsey, Manuel Benson, Nathan Redmond and Mike Tresor.

Parker confirned the absentees saying; “Probably not, no. Not in the next couple of weeks, they’re still a little bit off."

Foster is a man front man for

Burnley who sit in fourth place in the standings, three points behind the Championship leaders West Brom.

He won the Clarets fans' Goal of the Month award last month for an absolute stunner he authored in the 1-1 draw with Blackburn Rovers.