Will Lyle Foster still be part of Burnley’s plans should they win promotion to Premier League?

Cape Town - Lyle Foster is establishing himself as a solid Bafana Bafana player and a competent player in European football. The 22-year-old netted a brace in the national team’s 2-2 draw with Liberia last week.

He also scored his first goal for Burnley in a Championship game against Wigan Athletic earlier this month.

The Clarets won the game 3-0. In January, the Johannesburg-born player was handed the opportunity of a lifetime after Burnley signed him from Belgian club Westerlo.

During his time in Belgium, Foster was never really prolific in terms of finding the back of the net but he did score goals here and there.

The fact that Manchester City legend Vincent Kompany opted to sign him despite this, shows that he has plenty of faith in the player’s potential.

Burnley currently lead the Championship standings by several points and look set to win the English second tier as well as secure automatic promotion to the Premier League next season.

This means that Foster is bound to be a Premier League player next season.

However, it remains to be seen whether this will be a good thing for the Orlando Pirates youth product.

The Premier League is a totally different ball game to the Championship and while Burnley are dominating in the second tier, they will be aware that they will have to reinforce their side ahead of next season, which will include a definite need to bring in players who are proven at Premier League level.

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Kompany will also almost certainly look for experienced Premier League forwards in order to improve his team’s chances of avoiding relegation next season.

In the worst-case scenario, this could potentially result in Foster dropping down the pecking order at Turf Moor and struggling to gain regular game time.

Even though he will be a Premier League player, in the worst-case scenario this will harm his confidence and progress.

Foster, while showing a lot of potential, needs to improve his decision-making.

This may have been a factor behind why Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos opted to relegate him to the bench for Bafana’s recent Afcon qualifier which the national team won 2-1 away from home.

If he is not assured of regular minutes as part of Kompany’s plans for the season ahead, a loan move, ideally to a Championship club, will be good for Foster’s confidence and ultimately be of benefit to Bafana Bafana.

The Championship is a physically tough league, arguably in the top 20 leagues worldwide, even though it is the English second tier.

While its quality is undoubtedly lower than the Premier League, some would argue that it requires a greater deal of fitness than the Premier League due to its longer season.

By scoring regular goals in the Championship, Foster will also be preparing himself well for eventual life in the Premier League.

The English second tier is the perfect training ground to for Foster iron out errors before eventually going on to shine in a top-five European league.

@EshlinV