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ITALIAN STYLE . . . Matteo Lanzoni wheels away in delight after putting Athletic in front. But the defender’s close-range effort was in vain. Picture: Alan Howarth

KOREY Smith reckons Athletic’s season can spin around with a pair of quick wins — just as it did last season when he was at Yeovil.

Athletic’s captain spent three months on loan at Huish Park last term - which coincided with a run of awful form. By the time Smith (22) left in mid-December, the Glovers’ revival had started.

Five wins in eight matches pushed the promoted team, managed by Lee Johnson’s father Gary, within seven points of the top six.

“It is so frustrating,” said Smith, after the last-minute 3-2 loss at Rotherham.

“We know we are a good team; everyone else does too, and the fans can see we are trying really hard.

“It just doesn’t seem to be going for us. But we just have to keep going and hopefully it will turn.

“It is still very early in the season. I’m sure we can turn it round.”

Millers boss Steve Evans said before the game that Athletic were better than any of the top-three sides in Sky Bet League One.

Such plaudits mean little against a record which now reads two wins and five defeats, and Smith admits he would take any kind of a victory with Crewe at Boundary Park on Saturday.

“Our performances have been very good,” Smith added. “Everyone is speaking so highly of us, which is rare when results are going against you. We need back-to-back wins and when we can get that, I am sure we will be flying.”

Manager Lee Johnson, who praised the “brilliant” support of 1,349 noisy travelling Athletic fans at the New York Stadium, brushed off the accusation of his opposite number Evans that he had been insulted during the game by Athletic’s boss.

“I do respect him. Maybe I was out of order,” he said.

One major concern for Athletic is the fitness of in-form James Tarkowski, who is set for a scan this week after hurting an ankle again in training on Friday.