But his comments "I get paid to play football" hardly seems as though be believes Di Canio is heading in the right direction ... and inspiring for the fans.
Craig Gardner: “It maybe takes a bit of getting used to going back into midfield.
“But I was told to do a job. I wasn’t told to bomb on and be attacking, like I normally am.
“I was told to keep the shape and I thought we did that well.
“I get paid to play football and the manager gets paid to pick the team. As long as I’m on the pitch, I really don’t care where I play.
“I wouldn’t say I was surprised to start.
“I’ve been working hard in training and I’ve always been there to help, even though I was suspended for the first game.
“I was running hard, training extra and keeping myself in tip-top condition.
“Hopefully now I’ll stay in the team, like everyone wants to stay in the team.
“It’s not being ‘ahead’ of anybody.
“The manager has to pick a team to get a result out of the game and we could have got three points.
“He was right and we need to stay like that.
“At the end of the day, we’re a team and we need every single individual.
“We’re working day-in, day-out on the training field and when each game comes, we’ve got a different tactical way to approach the game.”