Gian Piero Gasperini rubbished suggestions that Atalanta's poor run in Serie A was down to him not renewing his current contract with the club. 

Gasperini watched on as his side were beaten 1-0 by Lazio on Sunday, their third consecutive league defeat, as their bid for Champions League football took another hit. 

Indeed, Atalanta have now lost three Serie A games without scoring for the first time since between September and October 2014, when Stefano Colantuono was in charge. 

They have also gone without scoring in four consecutive home matches in Serie A for the first time since between November and December 2004. 

Gasperini has been at Atalanta since 2016, taking the club from a mid-table side to European football, helping them to the Europa League title last season. 

His current contract runs until June 2025 with an option to extend it by a year, with the Italian saying in February that he intended to stay at the helm next season.

But when asked whether those words had impacted his team's results, Gasperini told Sky Sports: "This is stupid. 

"After those words we won 5-0 against Empoli and 4-0 against Juventus. It seems a convenient thing to throw in like this.

"Last season I signed in August, after the first game of the championship. This thing has nothing to do with it, it is an attempt to look for alibis."

Atalanta still sit third in the standings with seven games of their season remaining, but it was a day to forget at the Gewiss Stadium. 

There was also a mix-up over their substitutions, with Ademola Lookman accidently replaced by Lazar Samardzic in the 74th minute with his team chasing a goal. 

"Ederson was supposed to come off, we made a mistake with the numbers. Today wasn't our day," Gasperini said. "We weren't able to intervene before Lookman came off."

Atalanta had started the season in fine form, leading the table from Inter and Napoli, but have since dropped further adrift of Serie A's top two. 

They remain in the top four on 58 points, but the likes of Bologna, Juventus and Lazio are all closing on a Champions League berth for next season. 

"Going from the Scudetto dream to this dimension is right, this is the dimension of Atalanta," Gasperini told DAZN.

"We are fighting for third and fourth place. We have to find enthusiasm by understanding that this has always been the goal. We have seven games to play, we are still in it."