HARRY Arter insists changing his combative style won’t help in his bid to avoid walking a disciplinary tightrope.

The Cherries midfielder was sent off in the 1-0 defeat to West Ham last month after falling foul of new guidelines on dissent towards referees.

Arter was booked by Craig Pawson in the first half at London Stadium having let rip at the referee’s assistant following a handball.

And just eight minutes before Michail Antonio’s late winner, Arter saw red for a second bookable offence after hauling back Cheikhou Kouyate.

The 26-year-old, speaking ahead of Saturday’s trip to Manchester City, said: “West Ham was a learning curve. We were told the new rules and how strict referees were going to be so it was silly of me. The second one was an honest challenge where I tried to win the ball, but I need to learn from the first one. I think if we had kept 10 players on the pitch we would have got a point.

“The manager doesn’t want me to change the way I play, though. Anyone who watched me on Saturday against West Brom would have seen I put in five or six big tackles and that won’t change. The manager has said if I change the way I play then I become a different player. I just need to cut out those silly bookings chatting back to referees.

“Last year I was pretty good, but at West Ham the frustration got to me. I like to think that won’t happen again, but changing the way I play certainly won’t happen.”

Referees were ordered to take a zero-tolerance approach to player abuse ahead of the current campaign, following high-profile incidents involving Leicester’s Jamie Vardy and Chelsea striker Diego Costa.

Arter added: “The rules are quite strict but even last year if you reacted to a referee in an aggressive way you were booked nine times out of 10. This year it is 10 times out of 10. I have to try and control it, but everyone does. I feel up until West Ham I had done that well and I have always backed myself to not behave like that.”

Saturday’s clash at the Eithad will be Arter’s first trip to the East side of Manchester, the Irish international having missed the 5-1 reverse last season through injury, although the former Woking man could face competition from loanee Jack Wilshere for a starting berth.

Arter added: “I’ve been delighted to have been involved in all the league games so far. The next game is always the most important and I have a chance to try to make up further for what happened at West Ham. We got a positive result at Crystal Palace and I was pleased with how I played so I won’t beat myself up.”