Butt not ready to quit United

Nicky Butt has insisted he does not want to leave Manchester United.

The England midfielder revealed his growing frustration at a lack of first-team action last week which was seen by most pundits as a sign the 28-year-old was ready to sever his ties with Old Trafford.

Butt has started just nine games for United this season and was an unused substitute in Saturday’s 3-1 Manchester derby win over City.

The summer arrivals of Kleberson and Eric Djemba-Djemba, plus the impressive form of Phil Neville have limited Butt’s opportunities and he has not started a Premiership game since the 3-0 defeat of Portsmouth on November 1.

However, even though he acknowledged a failure to break his way back into Sir Alex Ferguson’s first-team plans could severely affect his chances of making Sven-Goran Eriksson’s squad for next summer’s European Championships, Butt claimed he had no intention of quitting his only professional club.

“I want to stay at Manchester United,” he told MUTV.

“People have been saying I want to leave, which is not true.

“I said I am not happy when I aren’t playing, which would be the same for any player at any club, and it has been blown out of all proportion.

“There have been no rows with the manager. I am not arrogant enough to say I want this or that. The manager might decide I am not good enough and sell me, so I would never demand anything.

“I am not naïve. I know I can’t expect to be in the England squad next summer if I don’t play all season. But it is a long campaign and I have to keep digging away. Hopefully I will get my chance.”

Butt added that he had not been affected about the speculation over his future and was concentrating all his energies on impressing Ferguson in training.

The United boss has publicly refused to speculate on Butt’s situation but with the season entering one of its most congested phases he will no doubt be delighted that a player with over 350 first-team appearances behind him has no intention of turning his back on the club.