A League Cup victory against Peterborough United was not enough to prevent manager and former team captain Billy Bremner from being sacked.
The turnaround stalled in late February and early March as a winless streak saw the team fall back to 12th in the league table.
Wilkinson brought Gordon Strachan, Chris Fairclough, and Carl Shutt into the lineup, and Leeds climbed the table back to 6th by 1 April.
Although these new players would be involved in the successes of subsequent years, this season's resurgence did not last, and Leeds took just 11 points from the last eight games to finish the campaign in 10th.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply.