KELTY HEARTS boss John Potter has vowed to pick a team that won't go "through the motions" and is demanding a positive reaction this weekend.

The New Central Park outfit were thumped 6-1 by Airdrieonians last Saturday, in a display that the manager branded as "embarrassing" and "unacceptable", to leave them 12 points adrift of the promotion play-off places with eight games to go.

Afterwards, a deeply disappointed Potter accused some of his players of "coasting" through the match, and insists there "needs to be" an improvement when they entertain Montrose this afternoon.

"We've got difficult games coming. We've still got a lot of games to go; it's not the end of the season," he told Press Sport after the loss at the Excelsior Stadium.

"There's a long way to go. There's still a lot of games to play, and a lot of points to go for. I made that point, the last couple of games, that I didn't to coast, but that today looked like a lot of players were coasting and going through the motions a little bit.

"I'll take that on board, and that's up to me to pick a team that I make sure doesn't do that next week.

"I know where we are in the league, and, for me, you've always got something to play for. You've always got teams above you, you've always got teams to try and catch, you're playing for a contract, you're playing for a new club; you're playing for whatever. You should have a drive inside you to try and play.

"I'm the same as a coach, or a manager, that you need to have a drive inside to try and beat your opponent, and try and improve."

When asked how difficult a challenge it would be to pick his players back up, Potter replied: "It shouldn't be.

"If I'm a player, first of all, I'm bursting my a**e to try and get in the team, and if I'm in the team, I need to burst my a**e in training to stay in the team.

"For me, it shouldn't be difficult. Yes, it's disappointing, but if you're a football player, you want to play football.

"It's a wee bit of a test of a character for some of the players there to see where they are going forward next week."

Potter, who had five players missing through injury, although he hopes to have some of them back for the visit of ex-Dunfermline team-mate Stewart Petrie's Gable Endies, named three under-20s players on the bench against the Diamonds.

Finlay Shearer, who made his top team bow in a win over Queen of the South last month, were joined by Jordan Hunter, who made his second appearance following a substitute outing against the Links Park side in August, and Kyle McCulloch, who made his first team debut.

"It is (positive) but we don't want to just throw them on the pitch for the sake of it," Potter added.

"Some of them have deserved it, especially Finlay. He's doing well with the 20s, and with us, so to get on the pitch and show a little bit shows there is a pathway at the club.

"It's about the ones that started that game today and I actually didn't want to bring any of the young ones on because, I felt the ones that started it, I wanted them to finish it out because they deserved to.

"To be part of that game, at times, was embarrassing."