It’s Captain Korey!

KOREY Smith (centre) chases down the ball in the recent Curzon Ashton friendly.

KOREY Smith has been praised for his leadership skills after being confirmed as Athletic’s new captain.

The former Norwich star (22) has arguably slipped under the radar of rival clubs after signing permanently in the summer.

He was a player Oldham manager Lee Johnson was desperate to bring in, following a successful loan spell last term.

The boss’s faith has been such that Smith now wears the skipper’s armband with pride, putting the manager’s plans into action in the engine room.

“He has been brilliant,” Johnson said. “I picked Korey because he epitomises my personality on the pitch. That is what I want — someone who is brave to take the ball and who will compete, who will give out the right information.

“He is always there in the mix and he works his proverbial socks off. He still has a bit of work to do off the pitch but he is still a young lad. Plus, he is respected by all the lads with the fact he has won the division before.”

James Wesolowski, who was stand-in skipper after Dean Furman’s departure to Doncaster last season, no longer leads the side officially.

For the manager, though, responsibility should be shared throughout the side.

“There should be 11 captains,” he added. “There are leaders in the group and I have spoken to those leaders. Korey is going to be captain but at the end of the day it is an armband. It doesn’t give him licence to do anything more than anyone else.

“I mixed the captains up quite a lot last year and I had Korey on my mind back then, but he was a loan player.

“It is no slur on Weso as he is a leader and captaincy material. But going forward I felt Korey was the best one for the role.”



ATHLETIC hit four goals in their opening fixture of the season at Stevenage, so it was rather surprising that they drew a blank, even against a stronger Derby County defence, in Tuesday’s Capital One Cup tie, writes Chronicle tipster KEITH McHUGH.

Charlie MacDonald sat out that one, but is expected to be back tomorrow to renew the partnership with Adam Rooney which proved so effective last weekend.

Athletic are justifiably favourites to win tomorrow’s match at Sky Bet’s 13-10, but Walsall are no mugs and will have their supporters at 2-1. The draw is 12-5.

This match is a close call, but there are likely to be goals, so snap up Sky Bet’s quote of 8-11 for plus 2.5 goals, effectively three or more.