Burnley will be without their joint-leading goalscorer Lyle Foster in the coming weeks after the South African had surgery on a chronic muscle issue, Vincent Kompany has confirmed.
Foster has scored four times in 14 Premier League appearances this season, a tally only matched by Zeki Amdouni among his Burnley team-mates as the Clarets have struggled for points.
The striker missed around two months before the turn of the year as he received treatment for a mental health issue, returning to the pitch in mid-December before sitting out South Africa’s Africa Cup of Nations campaign.
He had started seven straight games for Burnley before missing last week’s 3-1 defeat at Liverpool, with Kompany putting his absence down to a muscle problem.
Read our other sports news stories here:
Burnley striker ‘going to be okay’ after hospitalisation with head injury
Foster appearances during AFCON ‘frustrating’ to see – South Africa boss
JJ Watt: Burnley ‘prepared’ for Premier League relegation
Speaking ahead of Saturday’s meeting with Arsenal, Kompany revealed Foster had been forced to go under the knife to correct that issue, though Burnley do not believe his season to be over.
“Lyle Foster won’t be available,” Kompany said. “He had surgery on a chronic issue that needed resolving.
“It’s not season over, he will certainly miss out for a period of time. We’ll see on the others.”
Being the boss isn’t a job, it’s a mindset 🧠 pic.twitter.com/iGz3Px4cwI
— Burnley FC (@BurnleyOfficial) February 14, 2024
Burnley currently sit seven points adrift of 17th-placed Luton Town and are running out of time to mount a serious push for survival.
They face a daunting task on Saturday as they host an Arsenal side enjoying a four-match winning run, having followed up a 3-1 triumph over Liverpool with a 6-0 rout of West Ham.
Kompany worked with Mikel Arteta when the Gunners boss was part of Pep Guardiola’s backroom team at Manchester City, and he was full of praise for the work the Spaniard has done in north London.
“I liked how he handled his first season at Arsenal, the complexity amid the change of important players and working with a young group and gradually building his team,” Kompany said.
“He’s a talented person, he has that clarity of thought. We have a common history and that’s what remains. We’re still in contact over random things, player-related.
“They’re a top team, it doesn’t change from when we played Spurs, Liverpool, City… you need things to go your way.
“These teams have tools to hurt you, but you need to make most of your moments. It’s practice and belief in the end, when you get in that situation, you have to put it in the net.”
Getting set for Saturday 👊 pic.twitter.com/v8mZqCj8A1
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) February 14, 2024
