Paul Jewell has reached admirable heights as a professional manager and registered achievements which outweigh by some margins his more testing hours, but Jewell's first six months as Derby's boss were torturous on an a record-breaking scale.

Every statistic drawn from the 2007-08 season paints County in an unflattering light.

Their final points tally of 11 is – and will be for some time – the lowest total recorded by a Premier League club, and their single victory from 38 matches was nothing more than a useless light in the impenetrable dark.

The club conceded 69 goals more than the 20 they scored, and Jewell did not achieve a league win before the end of last season. By the time his first victory arrived, at home to Sheffield United on September 13, his tenure had entered its 10th month.

But if their season was purgatory then Gary McAllister, Leeds United's boss, is one man who thinks the cleansing process at Pride Park is already under way.

Jewell, he argues, will be a stronger and more capable manager with last season and relegation behind him, and the team he watched against Nottingham Forest a fortnight ago possessed the spark that left them in the Premier League. McAllister is in no doubt that Derby possess a healthier mindset than they did when Jewell first replaced Billy Davies at the end of 2007.

The curious possibility is that tonight's Carling Cup fourth-round tie at Pride Park might prove to be as difficult a game for Leeds as it would have been 12 months ago, when Derby were members of the Premier League and struggling to measure up to the Jones'.

"There's been a bit of a resurgence at Derby after a very difficult period, and Paul has managed to get a few results together," said McAllister.

"Knowing Paul, he'll have come out of it a better man. Anyone who comes through the end of a year like that is going to be a better man. He was brought up at Liverpool and he always was a 100 per cent player. He's that type as a manager as well.

"You can see that they've turned the corner and are starting to move forward again. But looking at them man-for-man, I'm telling my players that we should go there with nothing to fear.

"We haven't had many occasions this season when we've gone in as underdogs because no matter where we're playing – home or away – we're usually strong favourites. But the tables are turned a little bit and the pressure is on Derby.

"There are clubs in our division who are capable of getting results against teams in the Championship, and we've proved that in previous rounds.