Jewell ready for Derby

New Derby boss Paul Jewell has spoken out about his mission to keep Derby in the Premiership; he praised Billy Davies for all his work and said firmly that he feels Derby can stay in the Premiership for another season.

The new Rams boss said: "I enjoyed my time and I'm refreshed and hopefully I can come back a better manager. I've taken my time out of football to reflect on how I can get better. That time has not just been spent playing golf, as some people might think, I've done a lot of travelling and watched a lot of football to try to improve myself as a manager.

"All I wanted to do was walk away from Wigan with my head held high. There were absolutely no health reasons. I just wanted a rest from football and I'm not ashamed to say that."

On Wigan's chances of survival, Jewell said: "If I don't believe it, if the players don't believe it, if the fans don't believe it we have no chance," he said. "It's going to be very difficult - I'm a realist - but I'm not here to wave the white flag with 20-odd games to go. We're not adrift."