I've made mistakes, admits Liverpool striker Luis Suarez

Liverpool striker Luis Suarez admitted he has made mistakes on the pitch that have earned him a bad reputation, but the controversial Uruguayan star defended his "slyness" and "character".

"I have a very strange way of playing football," Suarez said in Montevideo, where he was training for his national side's World Cup qualifier against Paraguay tomorrow. "I'm my own severest critic and I realise when I make mistakes."

The English Premier League's top scorer with 22 goals said the criticism he has faced changed the way he acts on the field.

"There are times that I get yellow cards that can influence a game," he said. He added he had improved and had to continue improving a reputation that has cost him fines and bans.

Nicknamed "Pistolero", the Spanish for "Gunslinger", the 26-year-old striker has often played the role of villain on the field, notably for his tendency to dive and his clashes with opponents.

He handled the ball to stop a certain Ghana goal in the dying minutes of the 2010 World Cup quarter-final, he bit an opponent in the Dutch league in the same year and he received an eight-game ban over charges that he racially abused Manchester United's Patrice Evra in 2011.