Butt performed remarkably in his early seasons as a regular first team player at United, and often started in the lineup, scoring crucial goals, such as against Liverpool in Eric Cantona's comeback match in October 1995, and forcing Nigel Winterburn to concede an own goal for the winner against Arsenal in November 1996 – a game which saw the end of a three-match losing run in the league. Butt also functioned as a steady replacement for Roy Keane as the midfield ball winner, while Keane was injured for much of the 1997–98 season, earning a PFA Team of the Year award that year. However, Keane returned and after forward Paul Scholes was re-deployed as a midfielder around the end of the 1990s. Butt's first-team chances started to become increasingly limited, with many of his appearances coming from the bench from this stage onwards.