Derby County’s Kieran Dowell has been one of the most underwhelming signing supporters have endured for some time.

He came with a lot of promise.

His performances for Sheffield United were a credit to everything a box-to-box midfielder should be doing. He was a major working cog in the Sheffield United side that took the Championship by storm to earn promotion to the Premier League last season.

It was those same performances that seemingly attracted Derby County to the Everton player. He was signed by the club aspiring promotion on a loan deal to come in to do exactly the same thing. The loan move emphasises just how much the Premier League top-six hopefuls rate the young midfielder, not wanting to let him go on a permanent deal.

In the opening six games, Derby were seeing a vastly different player.

He started the season in a more advanced role in an attempt to get the all-rounder scoring more goals after he managed just two last season with the Blades.

It didn’t work.

The midfielder got into limited scoring positions and failed to convert whenever he did. He looked like a defender playing out of position and lacked the creativity required of an attacking midfielder.

Of course, his case wasn’t helped by the fact that he was playing in the position vacated by Mason Mount at the end of last season.

The, now, Premier League prolific scorer and regular starter for Chelsea was an incredible signing for the Rams and one Derby fans will struggle to forget.

He all but staked his claim as a Derby hero on the opening day of the season, scoring from outside the area against Reading.

Then, he scored in the infamous play-off semi-final victory over Leeds, ensuring his hero status.

Dowell, on the other hand, was sarcastically cheered off the pitch when he made way for Duane Holmes at Griffin Park in a 3-0 defeat to Brentford, after he gave the ball away cheaply several times.

The midfielder has as many yellow cards as he does have goals and assists this season… One.

His only real impact on any game came in a 2-2 draw to Stoke City when he fed Martyn Waghorn whose stunning spinning finish perhaps made the pass look better than it actually was.

Many Derby fans and maybe even Philip Cocu would have expected Dowell to take next to no time to adjust to Championship football, after being so heavily involved in it last season.

Also, he was one of the Rams’ first signings and had a full pre-season with the manager and players to learn.

In turn, it hasn’t worked out for the Evertonian.

Since his poor performance against Brentford three matches ago, the midfielder hasn’t played a single minute of football.