Di Canio revels in JPT triumph (From Swindon Advertiser)

SWINDON TOWN: Di Canio revels in JPT triumph

6:00am Wednesday 8th February 2012 in Sport By Gary Rose

PAOLO Di Canio hailed last night’s 1-0 win over Barnet as a ‘special moment’ in his career after the Italian guided Swindon to the final of the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy.

The Robins and Di Canio endured a difficult start to the season, with initial results failing to go their way while the Leon Clarke affair had the club in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons.

But things have changed dramatically since then, with Swindon now battling for automatic promotion and guaranteed an appearance at Wembley next month after their 2-1 aggregate victory over the Bees.

And for Di Canio, last night’s victory was an important milestone in his career.

He told the Advertiser: “It is a special moment especially after the first month when we were struggling. There were many problems with results and what was happening with some players. People could not imagine.

“I always believed in my quality but it was not easy to imagine five months ago that we would arrive in this moment in that we are close to the top in the league and have reached the final of the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy. It is a special moment.”

An appearance at Wembley eluded Di Canio as a player and now that he will get to experience that as a manager, he is now focused on helping to put the current group of players in Swindon’s history books with a win over Chesterfield next month.

“I never picked up a trophy at Wembley as a player so the fact that we are there is already a good result,” he added.

“Now we know we are there we will do everything to bring the trophy back to the County Ground. To win the competition would mean our name in some way would be in the club’s history and that is important.”