Swindon Town boss Paolo Di Canio wants to honour FA Cup win

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Paolo Di Canio
Image caption,

Di Canio's side have lost only once in their last 10 games in all competitions

Swindon manager Paolo Di Canio called for the League Two club to honour his players for their FA Cup third-round victory over Premier League Wigan.

Goals from Alan Connell and Paul Benson earned a 2-1 win for Di Canio's side after Callum McManaman put Wigan ahead.

"My lads today deserve something from the club - to do something and put their names in the stadium forever," said Italian Di Canio.

"I don't want a big statue. Maybe just a small plaque with all their names."

Former West Ham forward Di Canio insisted his team were worthy victors, despite Wigan complaints that Benson was in an offside position when Matt Ritchie's long-range shot deflected in off the striker's legs.

"There is no doubt we deserved to win," he said. "It is the best moment of my life.

"Today they did show the dream can come true. We needed to limit Wigan's chances to get through and we did that well apart from the accident for the penalty.

"This is something special - an amazing performance against a team three divisions above us. The players have been fantastic because to play under me is difficult."

Wigan boss Roberto Martinez praised Swindon in the aftermath of an embarrassing defeat for the Latics, who started the afternoon 53 places above their hosts in the Football League pyramid.

Media caption,

Win 'greatest career moment' for Di Canio

"I thought we started well and we got a well-deserved lead but I thought Swindon reacted really well to the emotions of the crowd," said the Spaniard.

"They got a little bit of luck with the second goal, which looked offside but it was a great opportunity for me to see the whole squad and all my players.

"Swindon have a real togetherness, have a real fighting spirit and they showed what it means to be in the FA Cup.

"I'd never say that we're not interested in the FA Cup, we want to win every game that we go into, but it's true that to be in two competitions you need to use your whole squad.

"We can't expect to go into the FA Cup using just the 12 or 15 players because that can be very, very damaging."

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