GOAL ace and card collector Richard Naylor is calling for consistency during a newly-hoped-for glasnost by referees.With Phillip Don leaving as the referees' supremo there is a hope within the game that attitudes to the way games are officiated will change for the better.

GOAL ace and card collector Richard Naylor is calling for consistency during a newly-hoped-for glasnost by referees, writes Derek Davis.

With Phillip Don leaving as the referees' supremo there is a hope within the game that attitudes to the way games are officiated will change for the better.

A more man-manager style approach has been called for rather than the rigid application of the laws, with top European referees being used as role models.

But Naylor is hoping for something which should be even more achievable. He said: “The thing I hope we get more of is consistency. You look at some challenges people get away with and others will be booked for it.

“If we knew where we stood and what was going to get a booking and what was not then when you made a challenge which was bookable you would hold your hands up.

“At the start of the season you get booked for everything and a few weeks later you won't be cautioned for the same tackle.

“It is crazy and it means I have been booked for challenges which I would not be booked for now, so it is ridiculous.

“I'm not saying I have not deserved a couple of the cards because as a defender you have to go for things and it happens.”

Naylor will miss next week's game at Derby County due to suspension for reaching five bookings, and with international call-ups leaving the match at Nottingham Forest in doubt, then he will be out for a fortnight.

The club's longest-serving star said: “It is going to be a long rest unfortunately, especially if the Forest game is called off as it looks as if it will be.

“It was going to come though as I was on four bookings for quite a while so I knew I was not going to get until Christmas without a suspension.”

The ban has a double punishment for players on top of missing a game - extra training and added stress about your place.

Naylor admitted: “It is the worst thing that can happen. There is always the worry that if you drop out due to suspension you are not going to get back in.

“In a way it is the way it should be as it shows the club has competition for places. I'm not looking to let anyone take my place in the side and I hope after the one game I will be straight back in.”

“We have more training than usual as you have to keep the fitness up.”

Although his card tally has reached six now, Naylor has also bagged five goals, all from defence.

He said: “The goals have been a bonus. I have enjoyed playing every week and being involved in a team that is moving up the table.

“We have a decent squad and good set of lads where everyone has fitted in well.”

The next mark for a ban is 10 bookings by the end of February, and Naylor is confident he can get through the next four months and won't get anywhere near the record of 16 in one season - held by a team-mate while at Tranmere.

He said: “I'm a long way off 10 and even further away from Georges' (Santos) record. I bet he didn't deserve most of them, he is a top man.”