They had at no point though ruled out a wage deferral altogether. Batty chose to speak directly to supporters when he released his statement, posted on various fans forums, which said: "The fans should know that myself in particular and the Leeds players would never risk the future of Leeds United, least of all for personal gain.
"I feel certain people have taken our decision to delay wage deferrals as an opportunity to "shift blame", and have in turn waged a character assassination campaign against me and a few players to turn the fans against the team.
"Ignoring the people who run the club, I feel in this instance that we have never needed the relationship between the fans and players to be any stronger than at this time, and I hope on Saturday you will be joining the lads in giving everything possible to help us get 3 points.
"I can assure you of my best efforts at all times, I have never given any less than 100% to Leeds United and finally none of the lads have ever said they wouldn't take a wage deferral, don't believe everything you read in the press!"