Burnley FC dealt frustrating Lyle Foster news | OneFootball

Burnley's Lyle Foster suffered a knee injury after scoring in South Africa's home win over the Republic of Congo

Burnley striker Lyle Foster has been forced to make an early return to Turf Moor, after suffering an injury while on international duty with South Africa.

As reported by the Burnley Express, the 24-year-old suffered a knee injury after scoring in his nation's 5-0 home win over the Republic of Congo in an Africa Cup of Nations qualifier on Friday.

Foster was set to feature for Bafana Bafana on Tuesday night, when they travel to the Republic of Congo for the reverse fixture, but his knee issue has forced the forward to make a premature return to England.

South Africa doctor issues Foster injury update

The South Africa national team doctor, Tshepo Molobi, revealed in a statement: "Fortunately, the nature of the injury does not require surgery.

"However, time has to be afforded to him for proper rehabilitation and this is why he has been ruled out of the match on Tuesday."

According to the Burnley Express, footage of Foster being loaded onto a stretcher was shared on social media on Friday night, following the forward's clash with the Congolese goalkeeper Christoffer Mafoumbi, who has previously played for Football League outfits Blackpool and Morecambe.

Despite the fact that the Lancashire outfit finished 19th in the Premier League last season, and were subsequently relegated after winning just 24 points in 38 games, Foster managed five goals and three assists in just 24 top-flight appearances and 22 starts.

The Clarets will have held high hopes that the striker, who managed a goal contribution once every three games he played in the Premier League last term, would be able to consistently produce the goods at Championship level this time around.

However, he has been somewhat underwhelming for the Turf Moor side so far this campaign, with just one goal and one assist in eight second tier appearances.

And the Clarets faithful will have hoped that scoring a goal during a big win for South Africa while on international duty would help their club's striker restore his confidence, since he has failed to score in the Championship since scoring the opener during a 1-1 draw with bitter rivals Blackburn Rovers back in August.

However, Foster will instead endure a period of time on the sidelines, and may not be available for selection when Scott Parker's side travel to Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday.

Somewhat bizarrely, the Clarets' top scorer so far this campaign is midfielder Josh Bornwhill, partly due to the lack of goals from Foster, who will have been desperately looking to get back on form at the earliest opportunity.

But the South African forward may not feature at Hillsboroough on Saturday now, which could leave Parker and co reliant on goals from midfield once again.

The likely absence of Foster may also hand 35-year-old striker Jay Rodriguez, who is yet to score or assist this season, a rare opportunity to lead the line for the Clarets, who are currently on an unbeaten run of six Championship games.

But after seeing Foster perform well on the international stage, the Clarets will have wanted to see what the 24-year-old could produce in the second tier on Saturday, but this does not look like a possibility for Parker's men anymore.