The Liverpudlian, as with many born in this area, had Irish roots and therefore qualified to represent the Republic of Ireland. He was released by Everton when he was 15, but their loss was Liverpool's gain. Potter wasn't very optimistic about his chances. "I am more comfortable in the middle than on the right, but you know that Steven Gerrard, the best player in Europe, Xabi Alonso and Didi Hamann are competing for those places, so it is not going to be easy playing there. But as far as I am concerned, I'd give an arm and a leg just to get a shirt in any position." Potter's first-team opportunities at Anfield were limited but the midfielder did feature in 17 matches between 2004 and 2006, making ten starts, mostly in the League Cup or the Champions League qualifying rounds. Potter had a short loan spell at Southampton towards the end of the 2005/06 season and following a successful loan spell at Wolves he was transferred in January 2007. Potter never settled at Molineux and in January 2009 he was sent on loan to Sheffield Wednesday in the Championship and the Owls signed him in the summer. Potter was an ever-present for Wednesday in 2009/10, but the club was relegated to the third tier of English football. Potter struggled to hold on to a regular spot as Wednesday adjusted to life in League One, leaving the club in June 2011. He immediately signed a one-year deal with League One club Milton Keynes Dons. Potter was reunited with Dons manager, Karl Robinson, who had been a coach at Liverpool around the time the then 19-year-old made the first of only two Premier League appearances for the Reds. Potter had an excellent first season with the Dons, making 42 starts in League One as the club reached the end-of-season play-offs but were defeated on aggregate by Huddersfield Town.

Potter played in all forty-six matches for the Milton Keynes Dons in 2012/13. This took his total of appearances for the Buckinghamshire club past the one hundred mark. He scored five goals during the season, four in League One and one in the FA Cup.

The midfielder started 29 league matches for Milton Keynes Dons in 2013/14 and added four more appearances in the FA Cup and Football League Trophy. In January 2014 he negotiated a new contract that would keep him at the club until the end of the 2015/16 season, which saw MK Dons relegated after just one season in the Championship. During the season he did pen a new deal, keeping him there until the end of 2016-17.

In the summer of 2017 Potter moved to Rotherham United, relegated form the Championship to League One. After sixteen games he developed an ankle injury which continues to keep him on the sidelines as of March 2019. He managed just one appearance, as a second half substitute on the last day of the season and with Rotherham being relegated, it was little surprise when it was announced that he would not be offered a new deal. He was given an opportunity to show he could still perform however by Tranmere who signed him at the end of June. All of his seventeen appearances were before Christmas and he was not offered a new deal for 2020/21, which saw Tranmere back in League Two after relegation. In October 2020 he agreed a short term deal with Altrincham of the National League but left within a month, announcing his retirement from playing and taking a coaching role at Port Vale's academy.