THOSE WHO still believe that Leeds United are somehow too big a club to play in Division One — lest we forget, the old third division — would have revised their opinion at half-time of this match.

That they were only one down to a Derby team who were not much more than competent and organised was something of a seasonal miracle, because so poor were they, so bereft of ideas, that nobody would have been surprised if it had been four or five.

Perhaps the biggest of the many pressing problems facing Dennis Wise is United’s vulnerability at the back. No team in the Championship has conceded as many goals — 42 in 22 games — and the ease with which Derby opened the scoring after just eight minutes at Elland Road illustrated why.

Jon Stead’s cross from the left was a good one, but neither Stephen Crainey nor Matt Heath got close enough to Giles Barnes to remotely inconvenience the former England youth international as he jumped to head the ball firmly past the United goalkeeper Graham Stack.

Derby’s readiness to convert their 4-5-1 line-up to 4-3-3, and the speed with which they did it, continued to confound the home team.

Two more Stead crosses from the left should have been converted in the first half hour, with Matt Oakley and Steve Howard both missing excellent chances, while the only work required of the Derby goalkeeper Stephen Bywater throughout the entire first half was to field a Hayden Foxe drive hit straight at him from 22 yards.

County manager Billy Davies’s only concern must have been the fact that despite their dominance, his side were still only a goal to the good.

Ten minutes into the second half Eddie Lewis finally found space on the left for Leeds, and though the American pulled his shot well wide, it was a reminder that the match was not yet won by Derby.

The former Manchester United midfielder David Jones almost made the game safe, smashing a shot against the underside of the bar with eight minutes remaining, but Bywater still had to make a good save to keep out Matt Heath’s header.

“In the opening 45 minutes we were exceptional and the game should have been dead and buried. They were lucky to still be in it at half-time. Our confidence is growing, which is crucial,” said Davies, after his team’s seventh win in eight took them into second, confirming their emergence as strong contenders for promotion.

“If they had equalised at the end it would have been a sickener. It’s our first result here for 32 years so we have to be pleased with that.”

Wise, incredibly, insisted he too was pleased with his side’s performance. “It was a battle,” he said. “A small detail was going to cost one team, and unfortunately it was us.

“I was pleased with the performance. Considering that they’re second and we’re third bottom, the difference between the teams was very small.

“We weren’t doing the things in the first half that we should have been doing. Sometimes it takes a little moan from me at half-time to remind them of what they need to concentrate on.

“I do believe we have a nucleus of a squad and in January hopefully we’ll have a couple more. Certain people have been earmarked, though whether we get them is another thing.”

Star Man: Jon Stead (Derby)

Player Ratings: Leeds: Stack 5, Foxe 4, Ehiogu 5, Heath 5, Crainey 4, Blake 5, Douglas 4, Derry 5, Lewis 5 (Carole 89min, 5), Kandol 5, Healy 4 (Moore 67min, 5)

Derby: Bywater 6, Edworthy 6, Leacock 6, Moore 7, Boertien 6, Jones 6, S Johnson 7 (Bisgaard 68min, 5), Oakley 7, Barnes 6 (M Johnson 85min, 5), Stead 8 (Lupoli 89min, 5), Howard 7

Scorer: Derby: Barnes 8

Referee: S Tanner

Attendance: 20,087