The Tigers star is one booking away from a two-game ban

In-form Hull City star Jacob Greaves says sitting precariously on nine bookings has actually helped improve his game, as he faces the prospect of a forthcoming suspension.

The Tigers defender has been on nine bookings since his caution against Sheffield Wednesday on New Year’s Day and one more before the end of the Leicester game on March 9 would see him miss two matches, which is the punishment for 10 yellow cards before the end of the 37th game.

Greaves, who will clock up a 31st City appearance of the season at Huddersfield Town on Saturday, admits he’s tailored his game to try and avoid picking up that tenth caution which has been a positive for his development.

Since sitting out the draw with Plymouth Argyle on September 30 having notched up five yellow cards in the first eight games of the season, Greaves has picked up just three cautions in the 22 games since and feels his game has been better for that threat of suspension.

“Yes, a little bit,” Greaves told Hull Live when asked if he’d had to tweak his game. “I would probably say I’m a little bit more careful in terms of speaking to the ref, not that I speak to them in a bad way, but just in case I get a booking for asking for something because you know, if you ask for someone to get carded or anything like that these days, you get booked yourself or kicking the ball away, so I’ve just got to be ultra careful.

“There was a moment in the game (at Rotherham) where Rocky (Ryan Allso) gave me the ball and we were 2-1 up, and it was the 95th minute, and I thought this ref could book me here for time-wasting, so I threw it back and he knew himself. The ref (Leigh Doughty), said, ‘you don’t want to get another booking’ and it’s just trying to be careful.

“If I get booked, I get booked. I might have to take one for the team or whatever, I’m not afraid to do that, but I’ve definitely tried to be more careful and when I’m going into tackles, just try to be a lot neater. But then I think on the other hand of trying to not get booked, I’ve probably been staying on my feet a bit more, talking a lot more, which I think has probably helped me as well.

“I think I look back at my nine bookings and I’ve had some ridiculous ones, really. I’ve been booked for all sorts, and it’s been frustrating, but it’s something that I’ve got to learn from. I wasn’t even really aware of the (five-booking) rule. I’ve never even thought about it until I actually got suspended for the Plymouth game, which was really frustrating to miss that game, but it is what it is, they’re the rules and you’ve got to abide by them. I’m just trying to stay as clean as possible.”

The 23-year-old has also spoken of his admiration for referee Rebecca Welch. The official will take charge of this weekend’s game at the John Smith’s Stadium in what will be her second City outing of the campaign having already overseen the 4-1 win over Rotherham at the end of November.

“She’s probably the best ref that we’ve had all season in terms of her aura, the way where she spoke,” Greaves continued. “I feel like I have a good relationship with a lot of the referees, but she was excellent on the night, it probably helped that we won.

“She’s been an excellent ref and the way she spoke to us, the way she carried herself on the pitch was a breath of fresh air and hopefully that can be the case again come Saturday. In the game, she was quite open in terms of speaking to you, in the tunnel at half time, you’d have a little discussion with her, a little chat, she was friendly, and you could get on with her, it was just like speaking to one of your teammates. She was nice, she’s a good ref.

“You get different refs, you get different personalities, it’s just like in a different workspace, everyone’s different. You get on with some refs, you might not get on with some others. I seem to have a good relationship with quite a few of them. They all seem sound with me, but yes, she was probably the best we’ve had this season in terms of the actual decisions that she made.”