Burnley manager Vincent Kompany has praised Bafana Bafana striker Lyle Foster for seeking help when he was struggling with his mental health during the season.
The 23-year-old missed two months of the Premier League season, as well as Bafana’s Africa Cup of Nations as a result, but returned to the field as Burnley attempted to avoid relegation.
Unfortunately, the Clarets were unable to save their season, and will be playing in the Football League Championship next season.
Speaking to Premier League Inside Matters, the Belgian manager said: “I think Lyle did something very powerful by actually speaking up about it himself, and allowing us to speak about it.
“How he processed his situation was very, very mature for a young individual in the end. I think we’ve all learned through experiencing this with him you know.
“The difficulty with football is that so often it’s the problem and as well it’s the solution, so these players will be confronted with different states of mind because of the pressure of the job, because of the pressure of being a footballer and what it means.
“Sometimes it’s not even towards the fans, it could be family, it could be your country, it could be your background, it could be your social media.
“So the stress of the job and the demand of the performances as well, competition. But at the same time, it’s what they love doing, to create this environment where these players actually see football as their happy place, the solution, and take them away from what they see as a dark place, it’s been for me a learning curve for me this year.
“Lyle has been massive in helping us to understand how to best support players that are facing the situation.”
On Wednesday, Foster was named in Hugo Broos’ preliminary Bafana Bafana squad for upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Zimbabwe and Nigeria.
IOL Sport