PAOLO Di Canio has forgiven five of his players for their late-night drinking session on Saturday after they apologised and insisted they would never let him down again.

The Town manager heavily criticised members of his squad following Tuesday night’s defeat to Aldershot, suggesting they had already started celebrating promotion to League One even though it has yet to be secured.

Di Canio also promised to take a hard line with any of the guilty players and threatened to make tough decisions concerning their future at the club.

But after Alan Connell, Simon Ferry, Raffa De Vita, Jay McEveley and Alan McCormack personally apologised to him yesterday, the Italian has had a change of heart.

The players also issued a public statement apologising to the club’s fans for their actions.

The statement read: “The players would like to apologise for spending a few hours out on Saturday night.

“We have been very professional all season and we let our standards slip at such an important time of the season.

“We, as a group of players, are focused on winning the title and want nothing more than that for us and everybody associated with the club, but more importantly for the fans who have supported us so well all season.”

The apology proved enough for Di Canio to welcome the players back into the fold.

“I received an apology from every single player who did not behave completely professionally, and this doesn’t mean I push them out straight away,” he said.

“It is different to have a player who has been under you for eight months and behaved absolutely professional, and then one time go mad and blurry and make a mistake.

“I can’t imagine they are out forever, if they recognise it was a mistake. The fact they came to me and said they were wrong and that it was not the right time to do this, and that they are ready to say sorry, then I accept it.

“Everybody can make mistakes, but they have shown they are genuine and they are real professionals. I was very angry, and I told them, but once they came forward it is gone.

“One or two mistakes can happen, but they must realise it must not happen again.”

The Italian had his players in for a double training session yesterday, which he believes will ensure they are focused in their chase for the League Two title.

“It is not only because of what happened on Saturday, but also because of what happened in the last two weeks,” he said.

“This does not mean we make the players train for six hours because this makes their legs heavy, but we do shorter for one hour so we realise it is important to maintain the concentration and discipline for the rest of the season so we can win the title.”