Louis van Gaal has praised the "ambition" of three former Manchester United players that made the move to West Bromwich Albion earlier this year.

Darren Fletcher, Jonny Evans and Anders Lindegaard have all completed permanent moves to The Hawthorns in 2015 after struggling for playing time at Old Trafford.

Ahead of the trios' return to their former club this weekend, the United manager told reporters: "I think it's very good because I always try to be honest with my players and I said to them 'your playing minutes are not going to be too much'.

"At your age you have to play but to make the decision to leave Manchester United for another club is a big one. To have made that decision out of ambition I like very much.

"You could decide to stay and not play, only train. There are a lot of players doing that but I have great respect for these three."

Fletcher and Evans have both featured regularly for West Brom this season, while Lindegaard has mainly featured on the bench behind Boaz Myhill.