Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson is determined for his players to show the same will to win as himself.

According to Edwin Van der Sar, every player at Old Trafford has to buy in to the spirit that Ferguson has instilled at the club over the past 26 years.

Van der Sar told the Sunday Mirror: ­"Ferguson has a winning mentality, a fighting ­spirit. He first passed it on to Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes. And soon every single player learns what kind of mentality they have at Old Trafford.

"Since then, the next generation of players, lads like Rio Ferdinand, Patrice Evra and Nemanja Vidic, bought into the philosophy.

"Now, they, too, are passing the message on to the players who have only been at United a few years - Chris Smalling, Jonny Evans and Rafael.

"In the end, every ­player grows up at United with that same fighting ­spirit."