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South Africa legend discusses Lyle Foster’s Burnley and World Cup woes South Africa legend Quinton Fortune opens up on Lyle Foster’s struggles Burnley’s Lyle Foster is a player badly in need of support to help restore his confidence according to a South African legend, after a bruising time for both club and country. The striker was left out of Burnley’s squad for their season opener against Notts County at the weekend, having only briefly featured in pre-season. The 25-year-old returned late having featured at the World Cup, but now finds himself well down the pecking order behind the likes of Zian Flemming and Zeki Amdouni. Foster was thought to be South Africa’s big hope at this summer’s tournament in North America, but he didn’t feature for Bafana Bafana again after struggling during their group game opener against Mexico. That came in the wake of a poor season at club level, scoring just three goals as Burnley were relegated from the Premier League. Having been dealt a crushing blow in July with the tragic loss of his South Africa teammate Jayden Adams, Foster - who has previously bravely opened up about his mental health struggles - is in need of support now more than ever. That’s according to Fortune, of former Manchester United fame, who wants to see Foster get back to his best. “I hope he will come back stronger for South Africa after this World Cup because I was looking forward to watching Lyle, thinking he can bring that experience of being a Premier League player to lead the team because so much is expected from him,” he told Premier Bet. “I think for Lyle it’s probably just a lack of confidence and every player goes through that, but I was really rooting for him during the World Cup given the prospect of having Lyle up front. “He must have something to him because otherwise why would Vincent Kompany have brought him to Burnley? Subscribe now for HALF PRICE and catch every minute of our Clarets coverage this season - from pre-season to the final whistle. Click here “I just think he’s a player going through a difficult time and he probably just needs an arm around the shoulder. He needs support. “I was lucky when I came over to Europe, I was 14. Everything for me seemed like an adventure. These guys like Lyle are probably having a tough time. They left home later so it might be a little bit harder for them to adapt, but the quality is there. “Lyle needs the support from his family, his teammates and his manager because when a striker isn’t scoring goals, that’s all they want to do. It’s like defenders who want to defend and keep their clean sheets. “I’m sure he can pull himself through it.” While regular game time is far from guaranteed at Turf Moor this season, Fortune believes a year in the Championship might do him good. “As a player you don’t want to get relegated,” he added. “It’s something you never want to experience. “But look, Lyle needs to play and strikers want to be scoring goals. Scoring goals in the Premier League is even better, it’s the best league in the world, but the Championship is a tough league because there's no nonsense down there. “The games come thick and fast. In one month you can win three games and a week later you lose three games. It’s just like that, up and down. “Hopefully he can get some early goals and get his confidence back because the Championship is not going to be easy. It’s a brutal league. “It can do him a lot of good though. He will feel much better if he can start to find the back of the net again for Burnley.”