McDonald has an intricate knowledge of Carlisle United's home, but nine months have elapsed since he last set foot in a stadium which was once his place of work. It is only through a coincidental conclusion to the League One season that his exile will be broken on May 15.

Ruthlessly evicted from Brunton Park in August, McDonald has good reason to view Carlisle United – and, more particularly, the club's administration – with an air of resentment.

But revenge? The 42-year-old would like to think he is more professional than that.

"I'm one member of the coaching team at Leeds United and a small part of a bigger picture," he said. "That's what it comes down to."

McDonald, however, would not be alone in feeling a degree of satisfaction were his current employers to eliminate from League One's play-offs the club who lost faith in his managerial ability without patience and, apparently, without sense.

His was the type of dismissal over which the League Managers' Association routinely have kittens.

Carlisle sacked McDonald on August 13, no more than two days after their season began with a 1-1 draw at Walsall.

The timing of the club's decision was bizarre – to the LMA, scandalous would have seemed a more appropriate word – but it was peculiar on a number of different levels.

Three days earlier, Carlisle had allowed McDonald to invest £140,000 in Joe Garner, a striker from Blackburn Rovers who became their record signing. At the end of the previous season, the Cumbrian club had finished eighth in League One, their highest finish for some 20 years.

McDonald saw progress, as many others did. Carlisle's owner, Fred Story, saw August 13 as the time for change.

"I can't give you a reason for what happened because there isn't one," McDonald said. "It was simply down to one man making a decision – a decision I didn't agree with.

"The way I saw it, there were three things to judge me on – our style of play and our results, the crowds we pulled in and the job I did on the recruitment side.

"We finished eighth in the league, which was the club's highest finish for years, and the attendances last year were good.

"You'd also have to say that a lot of the players who've contributed to their excellent season were brought in by me.

"I never thought I'd get sacked for doing things right. I don't believe I deserved that and I haven't been back to the club since.

"But, at the same time, I'd never have thought a season that started as badly as this one did would be finishing like it is – with me at a club who are three games away from winning promotion.