Scott Parker reveals South African striker missed Burnley's loss to Arsenal due to illness

Lyle Foster’s manager Scott Parker revealed the marksman missed the 2-0 defeat to Arsenal due to illness.

Foster was expected to play a vital role for Burnley when they faced Arsenal at home on Saturday.

This was after the Bafana Bafana international scored a winning goal last week against Wolverhampton Wanderers in a 3-2 win from the bench.

“He was sick,” Parker said to Burnley Express.

“He reported sickness yesterday [Friday] and went home yesterday, so he didn’t make it today.”

This weekend Burnley faces West ham United and it will be interesting to see if Foster recovers in time for that clash.

This mystery or sudden unavailability of Foster would be a concern for Bafana coach Hugo Broos who included the former Orlando Pirates player in his preliminary squad last week.

The squad will be trimmed this week to 23 players ahead of the friendly international against Zambia at home next week.

This friendly match will be Bafana’s last match before the Afcon tournament in Morocco from 21 December 2025 to 18 January 2026.