Pix: Mirror FootballLONDON: Paolo Di Canio (pic) reckons knocking Aston Villa out of the League Cup tonight would be as good as having sex with Madonna, reported Daily Star.

The Swindon manager said his favorite cup moment as a player was scoring the ­winner for West Ham against ­Manchester United in a 2001 FA Cup tie at Old Trafford.

He compares that feeling of jubilation to what he thinks it would feel like to bed the sexy American singer.

Tonight he wants his League One side to revive that feeling for him in the home tie against Paul Lambert’s Premier League ­strugglers, with a place in the last eight at stake.

 “When I scored against United it was very exciting to look around and see 9,000 people celebrating away from home," said Di Canio.

“Beating United was amazing, like having sex with Madonna – and beating Villa as a manager would be just as good.

“Better than having sex with ­Madonna? Let me try it and I will give you an honest answer!”

Di Canio has taken two Premier League scalps since taking over at Swindon in 2011 – Wigan in last season’s FA Cup and Stoke in the last round of the League Cup.

“If we beat Villa, the board should prepare statues of my players for outside the stadium,” he said.

“To beat three Premier League teams in a row would be an ­amazing achievement, probably never done before in over 100 years’ history of the club.

“Our record against teams from higher divisions is no accident ­because in the last 16 months we have played 12 cup ties and won nine or 10 of them.There is no secret – except ­having Paolo Di Canio as your ­manager, of course.

“Seriously, I find it easier to prepare for games against ­Premier League teams because my players are so enthusiastic.

“Also, we play good football, so we are better suited to these games than against teams who play the ball in the air.

“If we played against ­United we might concede six goals, but I guarantee we would create four clear-cut chances.

“Villa have great players, like Darren Bent and Gabriel ­Agbonlahor, but in the cup you only get one chance. If we take our chance, we can win,” he said.

- mD