Craig Levein believes there is still plenty of room for improvement at Dundee United in the weeks ahead.

The Tannadice club have been blighted by injury problems in recent times, with suspensions to Prince Buaben and Danny Swanson taking the number of absentees to double figures for the Clydesdale Bank Premier League clash with Hamilton.

Although United sit in fourth place, manager Levein rates their start to the campaign only as "okay" and believes there is much more to come from his players.

With so many first-team regulars unavailable, he will have to make changes, with Craig Conway and Jennison Myrie-Williams ready to step into his midfield.

Levein has already challenged his fringe players to use this opportunity to show what they can do and is confident they will be able to take care of bogey team Hamilton.

He said: "I think we've done okay so far, no better than that.

"That has been because of a variety of reasons. For example, this weekend, we have 11 players unavailable for one reason or another.

"We started the season without Lee Wilkie, Fran Sandaza and Jon Daly, who all started every game last season when they were fit.

"So that has obviously been a blow but we've picked up points and had some decent results.

"The way I look at it is that if we can get results when we're missing people, it follows on that when we have a fully fit squad we'll get better.

"There's more to come from us, I'm confident of that."

Although Levein will be making serious changes to his preferred line-up, he does not believe the quality of player will dip.

Craig Conway, for example, made his Scotland debut against Japan last weekend despite only starting two games for his club.

Levein has worked to beef up the squad during his three years in charge so is happy with its strength in depth.

He said: "This is a test for us and a test for the players who are coming in.

"In times like this, you learn about your team and this weekend I think we'll find out a few things about players this weekend.

"We're going to have to make changes and this is an opportunity to find out exactly what I've got at my disposal.

"In my mind, we have some really good players who have not been playing.

"So it's not as if we're missing people and throwing 17 or 18-year-olds in."

Captain Lee Wilkie is carrying an ankle problem but will be given until Saturday morning to prove his fitness.

Levein revealed: "Wilkie has got a problem with his ankle and he came in on Friday feeling sore, so we've got a doubt over him.

"It's on the same leg as the knee he injured so we'll have to be careful with it.

"We'll give him until Saturday morning to see how it settles down."