Foster Suffers Potential Season-Ending Injury
Bafana Bafana striker Lyle Foster has been dealt with a major blow as his season could potentially be over after suffering a serious-looking injury in Burnley’s goalless draw against Derby County in the English Championship on Tuesday night.
The Clarets were knocked off the summit of the English second-tier standings following the stalemate with the relegation-threatened Rams at Pride Park. Leeds United ascended to the top with a narrow 1-0 win away at Middlesbrough.
With five games to go, the race for automatic promotion is heating up, with Leeds and second-placed Burnley level on 85 points after 41 matches played. Meanwhile, third-placed Sheffield United remains within touching distance with 83 points collected.
Interestingly, Scott Parker’s side will host the Blades in matchday 44 – a clash that could prove pivotal to both teams’ promotion ambitions after the two clubs were relegated from the English Premier League last season. Burnley won four of the last five meetings between the two teams.
However, the Clarets may have to do without the reliable services of Foster upfront in the crucial run-in. The Bafana international was brought on in the 68th minute but only lasted six minutes on the pitch as he was withdrawn in the 74th minute due to an injury.
The 24-year-old center-forward has seemingly dislocated his shoulder as he was holding his shoulder and in tears alongside the physio and paramedics on his way off the pitch. The Burnley manager consoled Foster before he headed down the tunnel, with the striker visibly distraught.
Parker provided an update on the severity of the injury after the match: “Yeah, it doesn’t look good, to be honest with you. We’ll find out a little bit more tomorrow. We’ll scan him first thing tomorrow morning, and we’ll have a bit of a clearer idea, but he doesn’t look too good,” he said as per Burnley Express.
This is the second time this season Foster has seen his substitute appearance end prematurely as the Orlando Pirates academy product suffered the same fate before the March FIFA international break, but quickly recovered to report for national duty where he scored against Benin.
The former Monaco player will see this as a huge setback after grabbing an important morale-boosting assist against Coventry City in the league over the weekend. Foster has already missed 13 games for the promotion-chasing outfit through a knee injury this season.
Overall, Foster has scored three goals and provided five assists in 30 appearances across all competitions in the ongoing campaign. Moreover, the South African is the second most assist provider for Burnley this term.
