SWINDON manager Paolo Di Canio believes the way his players gelled together during the season was the key to Town winning the League Two title.

The Italian has continually added to his squad throughout the season and is pleased with the way the majority of his new signings integrated into the dressing room, but highlighted the League Cup clash with Southampton in August as a major turning point.

Leon Clarke, signed just 11 days previously from QPR, refused to leave the pitch at the end of the game before arguing with Di Canio in the tunnel in front of the TV cameras.

Clarke never played for the club again, and the Italian believes the episode had a long-lasting effect on his players.

“The dressing room is crucial because it is the atmosphere where people arrive,” he said.

“The players accepted new players when they came into the dressing room, even though I made tough decisions with some of their teammates. They accepted because they understood I did that for the best of the squad.

“The Southampton game at home, even though it wasn’t a league game was important because it gave us the opportunity to gel together and understand we should be more of a unit.

“On the pitch we lost to Torquay on December 26, and then we won at Northampton, and this was a very good win for us.

“The way we won gave us an extra lift and a desire to push and try to reach what we want to reach and we went on to win ten league games in a row. In between this we beat Wigan in the FA Cup and this moment was crucial for us to realise we should finish in the top three and go up straightaway.

“But we have to be honest with ourselves and say the Southampton moment was crucial to bring more unity.”

Di Canio was always confident his side would secure promotion, even after a rocky start which saw them lose four of their first five games.

“You always want more but to be honest I was more positive than not at the start of the season,” he said.

“After the way we started it wasn’t easy to always believe we would finish top, but we worked so hard and week by week I thought we could this.

“The players are genuine guys, and we brought in some during the season, but if I can work well with them they have talent and desire and it was obvious we could do something special.”