Gray brings Batty's Leeds career to ignominious end

Eddie Gray is ready to accept the wrath of the fans after pulling the plug on David Batty's Leeds career yesterday.

The club's caretaker manager informed Batty he would not play for Leeds again this season, and as the veteran midfielder's contract expires this summer, it means he has played his last game for the club.

Batty, said to be "extremely disappointed", chose not to train with the rest of the squad before today's crucial bottom-of-the-table showdown with Wolves at Elland Road.

Gray denies there has been a falling-out though it is incomprehensible to imagine in Leeds' financial strife they can allow a player to earn £500,000 - £25,000 per week between now and the end of June when his contract runs out - without playing again. Gray said: "I've made a decision that I will not be using David again this season, purely from a footballing point of view. I feel it is the right decision. I had a chat to David this morning and he knows how I feel. I think we can cope without him - time will tell.

"He was OK, and although I don't expect him to be happy, I've got to look at the overall picture. We played 4-4-2 on Saturday [losing 2-0 at Aston Villa] and that's the way we will play between now and the season end."

Batty's involvement in the recent wage deferral row, when the squad refused initially to accept cuts of 35 and 30 per cent before agreeing to a 25 per cent cut, may have angered Gray.

Gray could be without Jermaine Pennant and Eirik Bakke against Wolves. Both are rated "slightly better than 50-50" after sustaining calf injuries against Aston Villa. Gray's Wolves counterpart, Dave Jones, hopes to name an unchanged side.