His extremely slow recovery from the injury led to fears that Batty would never be seen in a Leeds shirt again. The problem was solved when it was discovered that the medication he was using for a heart problem - arising from the rib injury sustained in his first game back at Leeds - was hampering his ability to recover.
Nevertheless, recover he did and Batty came back in the second half of the 2000/01 campaign only to be disguarded by Terry Venables last season.
Peter Reid has proved it was no publicity stunt bringing him back into the squad just to please supporters.
Although Reid is keen to take a cautious approach with Batty, he believes the odds of him starting the season against former club Newcastle on August 17 are improving with every game.
Speaking after the 2-0 defeat at Hull last Friday, Reid told the club's official website: "He's terrific, that was the best I've seen him.
"We had a chat at half-time and I told him I was going to bring him off, but he wanted to stay on for another 10 to 15 minutes.
"He was neat and tidy, broke things up in the middle of the park and did ever so well."