Louis van Gaal: 'Radamel Falcao needs to prove fitness'

Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal has insisted that he will not start Radamel Falcao until he can prove his fitness.

An injury to Wayne Rooney opened a starting spot in the Red Devils starting lineup against Stoke City, but the Dutchman opted to play James Wilson instead of the Colombia international.

When asked if Falcao was frustrated by his treatment, Van Gaal told reporters: "I'm not interested. He has to follow my philosophy. Do you understand that? Yes, I'm here because of that.

"Yes, it's match fitness. Then we had the training sessions after Tuesday. But before Tuesday, we didn't train. We trained the box exercise and that is not a full training session.

"Because we had to play again within two days of the Hull game last week, I have to have a recovery session, so I cannot train him."

United face off against Southampton at St Mary's Stadium later today.