Derby’s American dream begins with a nightmare

But the polished French defender had nothing but sympathy for hapless Derby on a day that thickened the gloom on an increasingly humiliating season at Pride Park.

Mawene, who spent four years at Pride Park after a £500,000 move from Lens, had just been voted Player of the Year when he was offered a new contract that involved a massive pay cut in 2004. When he asked for a few days to consider it he was accused of 'messing the club about' and was kicked out on a free transfer.

Derby were found guilty of a breach of contract regulations but Mawene was in forgiving mood after Preston recorded their first FA Cup win over opposition from a higher division in 30 years.

"People may expect me to see this as personal revenge but that is not how I feel," said Mawene. "I am too delighted for Preston to let in negative emotions.

"Perhaps winning here means a little more to me because of what happened but I still think Derby are a special club. I had my ups and downs in the four years I was here but overall my image of Derby is good and I take no pleasure in their problems.

"Everyone now accepts that they can't stay in the Barclays Premier League so I look forward to playing against them again — but for that to happen we have to carry on our own improvement.

"The mood is very different to how it was two months ago when Alan Irvine came in as manager and he has helped us a lot tactically. We were losing games much too easily but coming from a big, successful club like Everton he brought a lot of confidence with him and you could see against Derby that it has started to rub off on us.

"After watching videos of their recent performances we felt we had a real chance of cashing on their weaknesses and it all worked brilliantly."

Striker Karl Hawley, who showed great composure in punishing errors from Andy Todd with the first and third goals, added: "It's a bit of a dream because I've not exactly been a regular scorer this season and the gaffer told me before the game to make sure I kept the shirt.

"I was just a bit peeved that I wasn't still on the field to take the penalty in injury time because there's no way anybody would have stopped me from going for a hat-trick. I'm not the designated penalty taker but I'd have insisted on having that one."

Simon Whaley showed similar composure with Preston's second goal and although substitute Rob Earnshaw made it 3-1 soon after the break, the supremacy of the Championship strugglers was underlined by a penalty from substitute Neil Mellor, following a professional foul that earned Derby defender Lewin Nyatanga a red card in injury time.

To compound matters for fans, Derby manager Paul Jewell ruled out any chance of reinforcing his fast-sinking squad before the closure of the transfer window on Thursday.

New American owners will complete a £40million takeover today but Jewell insisted: "I don't think there's time to make much an impression on what needs doing. To be honest, I think it was too late when I got here. The only good thing is that we are at the start of a new era and we've got good people coming into the club. I've been surprised by their knowledge of football."