OLIVER Risser believes sealing promotion tonight at Aldershot would be the perfect tribute to boss Paolo Di Canio’s late mother.

The Town manager left Swindon immediately after Saturday’s victory over Plymouth to return to Italy to be with his family following the news that his mother, who had been ill for some time, had passed away the night before the game.

The Italian bravely took his place on the touchline for the 1-0 win, and is expected to return from his homeland in time to for tonight’s match at the EBB Stadium.

Town only need a single point to mathematically secure promotion, while three could seal the League Two title if Shrewsbury do not beat Port Vale, which Risser believes would be a fitting tribute.

“If you lose somebody close to you it is very difficult, and we have to respect that,” he said.

“It was great he was able to have him with us for the game on Saturday because I don’t think everybody would have done that.

“It would be a big piece of the cake if we could go up tonight. We have been working the whole year for this. We also want to honour him and give the fruit back for the seed he has sewn.

“He has put a lot of new things in place and everyone at the club, including the players and coaches, have put them into action, so I think winning promotion would be a perfect way to pay tribute to her.”

Town have been forced to grind out a number of victories in recent weeks, and Risser is expecting tonight’s game against Dean Holdsworth’s side to be another tight game.

“We have to step up a gear because no team will give us anything for free, and we know we need to play well,” he said.

“It is a bit like cage fighting at times, but we just need to go out there and win.

“I am expecting another tight game because every team that plays us puts in maximum effort against the possible champions because they want to say they have beaten us.

“Promotion is going to be something special, although it would have been nice to have done it in front of our own fans on Saturday. But the results did not go for us and we move on to this one.

“But we want another two wins to make sure we are champions.”