COACH Paul Roos says the club will “absolutely” be active in the upcoming trade period in October.

Roos said the Demons were adamant they needed to go to another level and acquiring talent from rival clubs was part of their plan.

“We’re really aware of where we’re at as a footy team,” he said on Roos’ Views.

“The coaches have now had a good look at the team for two years and our consistency is a real concern, so we need to address that.

“We need to get guys in the team who are really good characters and work really hard, so we’ll certainly be looking at all players from other clubs that become available.

“The mantra to the recruiting guys is to get good characters that can run, because the game now [demands elite running]. If you can’t run, it’s pretty hard to play.”

Roos said next week would be pretty hectic after Melbourne’s final game against Greater Western Sydney at Etihad Stadium on Sunday.

“It’s pretty rushed and even though we’ll do reviews and medical reviews, they get medically assessed every week and they get individual reviews every week,” he said.

“Based on the fact that they have to be out of here in five days, you want to give them a bit of an idea of how their season was – and most of them would know that anyway … then [you’ve got the] best and fairest and then they’re off.

“It can be rushed and it can be pretty tough to get too much done.”

Reflecting on last round, Roos said he was “relatively pleased” with his side’s performance against the top of the ladder Fremantle at Domain Stadium last Sunday.

“We started well and we’ve got seven or eight players out at the moment against a team that had lost two in a row, but was on top of the ladder,” he said.

“They were always going to come out and play their best football they possibly could. It was going to be hard and I think our start cost us, when we had six to two inside 50s and we didn’t use the ball [well] and then we lost our way a bit for 15 or 20 minutes.

“After that, we were really, really competitive and losing Jonesy (Nathan Jones) and [Jake] Spencer [through injury] didn’t help, so … for us to remain really competitive for the majority of the game was positive and we need to build on that this week.”

Roos said his side’s recent effort had frustrated everyone associated with the club – the fans, coaches and players alike.

“That was the main focus going into last week’s game – to bring effort and I felt like we did that for 90 to 100 minutes of the game and we were able to compete pretty well for the majority of the game,” he said.

“It’s just when we drop off and we don’t get results for our efforts that it becomes 10 [goals] to zero and it’s impossible to come back against a top quality side.

“This week again, we’ll try and pick the best players we can. At the moment, with all due respects, we can’t pick our best team, because like a lot of teams down the bottom of the ladder, there are a lot of injuries and the demands on players are great as you go into round 23.

“But I want to pick a really competitive side that gives us the best chance to win.”

Roos said youngsters Angus Brayshaw and James Harmes were likely – but not certain – to return in round 23.

“Both were out of the team and the term was ‘rested’, but their form had dropped off in relation to being tired and it’s been really, really hard [for them] – so we’ll have a look at the team,” he said.

“The idea about resting them was more about ‘you’re not in the best 22 now, but we want to give you the best chance to finish off the year really well’, because their form up until then had been really good.

“Like all young players, they do lose a bit of form, so I’d like to think that they’ll get another chance, but we’ll have another look at the team.”