Scott Porter has questioned Whitstable’s passion and desire ahead of Saturday’s derby showdown at Herne Bay.

The Oystermen dropped below their local rivals last weekend and are now second-bottom in Bostik South East.

Nine matches without a win have left Porter asking serious questions of his players ahead of their biggest game of the season.

Whitstable are looking to avenge a 4-0 defeat in the reverse fixture at the Belmont but league points are now more important than bragging rights.

Porter said: “It’s a local derby, we’re both down there together and I need a reaction from my players.

“There’s no better game to get your first win for a long time.

“The game at our place was my first derby and we were on top until we got Harry Brown sent off.

“We lost the game and it put a dent in the club.

“We’ll be looking for revenge and there’s no better time to do it.”

Whitstable crashed 3-0 at home to Horsham last weekend with all the goals coming before the interval.

Porter admitted: “It was the worst first-half performance since I’ve been at the football club.

“We conceded a goal after 13 seconds so all the preparation went out of the window.

“I thought our confidence was quite high after three consecutive draws but all three goals were poor defending by us.

“We’re missing Steve Smith and Ricky Freeman so we had to shuffle it around up front.

“We’ve tried to get people in on loan but it’s difficult at this stage of the season – no-one’s going to let their strikers go.

“It was so flat. All my teams have fight in them but we didn’t show that fight at all.

“Considering the other results as well, it puts us in a very serious position.

“I questioned the boys’ passion and desire to win a football game.

“Take all the tactical stuff out of it, you’ve got to win the fight first and we didn’t do that at all.”

Smith and Freeman will both miss the derby as they’re still suspended while Michael Jenner has left the club for personal reasons.

Meanwhile, John Walker won’t play again this season after suffering suspected knee ligament damage.

Charlie Smith is back in the squad this weekend after returning from K Sports, while Town have recalled Teddy Nelson from Lordswood.