PAUL Warhurst is old enough and wise enough not to need his manager to tell him to keep is mouth shut.

In the week in which Newcastle boss Bobby Robson saw fit to warn his young striker Craig Bellamy to button his lip, the Wanderers' star acknowledged that one more word out of place and he could be in trouble.

Warhurst is currently on four bookings - one away from following team-mate Mike Whitlow to an automatic one-match ban - and accepts that his problems have been of his own making.

"I've been done three times for dissent," he points out, "so that's down to myself getting frustrated rather than flying into tackles.

"But you get caught up in a game and you think decisions aren't going for you. It's hard to take but you've got to learn to take it and I'm trying to do that very quickly at the moment.

"It's not easy though when you see things that are blatantly wrong."

Warhurst's latest yellow card came when he led the protests after offside appeals - later supported by video evidence - were ignored when Nolberto Solano scored the crucial first goal in Newcastle's 4-0 Reebok win.

On reflection, he knows he should have curbed his temper but admits that is easier said than done.

"If an offside is close you have to hold your hands up and accept that a decision has to be made, one way or the other.

"That came just before half time and it killed us. It's hard to accept when things like that happen."

Since only one of his four cautions has been for foul play, it is hardly surprising that Warhurst has no complaints about the tough line on tackling ... as long as everyone knows where they stand.

"You have to be careful with your tackles but, in a way it helps the game because it stops people diving in and seriously hurting somebody," he suggests. "The frustrating thing is the lack of consistency and it always will be.

"I don't think you ever get that in the game because there are so many referees with different opinions.

"You just have to get on with it and swallow the pill. Some weeks it will work out for you and some weeks it won't. It's a difficult pill to swallow sometimes and I'm still learning that."