Road trips give Jewell's men hope as they aim to triumph at Loftus Road
QPR shocked Premier League Aston Villa on Wednesday by winning at Villa Park in the Carling Cup but their impressive start to the season has been built on their form at Loftus Road.
Iain Dowie's side have beaten Barnsley, Doncaster Rovers and Southampton to collect maximum points from three home league games.
Reading and Wolverhampton Wanderers are the only other teams in the division to boast such a record.
For good measure, Dowie's men mauled Carlisle United 4-0 in a home tie in an earlier round of the Carling Cup.
Investment in the club has strengthened QPR's hand and confidence must be sweeping through the camp.
Striker Dexter Blackstock, who spent a loan spell at Derby in 2005, has hit five goals in eight appearances, while Patrick Agyemang provides power and pace up front.
Twenty-year-old Emmanuel Ledesma is also chipping in with goals.
The Argentine forward, on loan from Genoa, struck a hat-trick against Carlisle United and one in the victory over Doncaster.
The fixture is a test for Derby but Paul Jewell's team has shown plenty of character in an unbeaten run of three matches.
They have also shown plenty of fight on their travels.
Paul Green's equaliser earned a point against Bristol City at Ashton Gate and the Rams came away from Swansea with a 1-1 draw. Stephen Pearson's strike put them ahead before a sloppy goal was conceced from a corner 14 minutes from time, Ashley Williams escaping his marker to power a head past Roy Carroll.
Green headed the winner in the Carling Cup victory over Preston North End at Deepdale a few days before the one away defeat, the 2-0 setback at Barnsley, came in a game Derby bossed for 70 minutes.
"We have shown some character on the road, and the best performance was at Barnsley in a game we lost," said manager Paul Jewell.
"Sometimes it can be easier to play away from home because there is less expectation on you.
"We are not creating a host of chances at the moment but what we have to do is become hard to beat before we can move forward.
"We need to keep clean sheets but I believe we are getting more shape and balance in the team to make us harder to play against than we were in the past.
"I know we are playing against Championship players rather than Premier League players but if we had shown more resolve last season, we would not have been beaten five and six, and we might have held out in games rather than collapsing under pressure.
"There is definitely more resolve at this moment in time.
"It is nowhere near where I expect us to be but we are making slow progress."
QPR go into the game as favourites but the unpredictable nature of the Championship has already been seen in the early weeks of the season.
Many expected Derby to lose at Bristol City and Preston – they didn't.
Many thought Sheffield United would inflict more pain on the team and Jewell. They didn't and instead, the Rams recorded their first league win in 37 attempts.
And last weekend high-riding Birmingham City suffered their first defeat of the season at home to Blackpool.
Jewell went to watch QPR at Villa.
"I felt QPR, other than one chance when Gareth Barry got through, were quite comfortable," said Jewell.
"They have a way of playing and have got some good players.
"It will be top notch for us if we go and win there after three games unbeaten.
"Our run doesn't make all the problems go away but certainly you see a change in the players' demeanour.
"We've got a bit of fight about us now and when things go against us, we don't collapse like last year."
Comment on this story