Josh Meekings, the Inverness Caledonian Thistle defender, believes a desire to better themselves will maintain the Highland side's momentum this season, with the club having reached third place in the SPFL Premiership already.

They have been propelled by six wins and two draws from their first 10 matches.

Meekings is not yet satisfied, though. The 22-year-old feels it is a record which could have been made even more impressive, a view which is shared by the rest of this Inverness squad. They are also all eager to continue their early form against Dundee United today.

"Hopefully, we can build a run after the international break," Meekings said. "We've started that with three points and we want to continue. We have made a very good start to the season, but our feet are firmly on the ground.

"As a group, we know we've got a lot of work to do and there's a long way to go still. It has been very encouraging for us - there have been a lot of positives - but there have been a few games we haven't been happy with. We know what we want to do. Hopefully we can keep going, pick up three points this weekend and start something.

"We set our standards quite high. There is a drive among the lads to keep getting better and we're not ready to settle down and think we've done our bit. We want to keep going and see how far we can go as a team."

John Hughes, the Inverness manager, has benefited from a self-policing dressing room in which slacking is never tolerated and prima donnas are rooted out quickly. "All the boys have been together for a year or two now and I think that's showing," said Meekings.

"Our standards are very high in the dressing room. There are no egos or anything like that and we're all pushing each other to keep trying to improve. On our day, we play nice football but we have shown we can also grind out a win as we did against St Mirren.

"I think it showed the character we have in the dressing room to keep that 1-0 lead for the whole of the second-half - it was difficult, but the boys work very hard. When you've got that in your squad it certainly helps.

"It can't all be pretty stuff in this league, it can be very physical and tough at times. I think we've definitely got to try and look at ourselves and try and keep making sure we're working hard and doing the right things."

Ryan Dow's endeavours of late have concentrated primarily on getting to the bottom of the fitness problems which had been hampering his performances for United. The forward was troubled by a stomach issue in recent weeks but is confident that it has finally been diagnosed.

"I'm fine now," said Dow. "I had a bit of osteitis pubis in my stomach. So I had an injection after the Partick Thistle game last weekend and since then it seems to have helped it a bit.

"Hopefully, that will continue. Initially, we thought it was maybe a stomach strain and then we thought it might have been into my groin, so I got a scan the other week. It showed up what it was and the physio recommended I get an injection after the Thistle game and so, too, did the doctor. It wasn't really pleasant but it's been good and it has helped. Touch wood it goes well this week.

"I picked it up at the start of the season. It was sore and it gradually got worse, and, to be fair, maybe the astroturf at the Kilmarnock game meant it flared up a wee bit more with the hard surface. It was really sore after that but I hope this is the end of it."

United sit just one point behind league leaders Hamilton Academical going into today's fixture in the Highland capital. The Tannadice squad have faced questions of their mettle having slipped off top spot earlier in the campaign but Dow has dismissed the suggestion that his side were unable to handle the pressure.

"It's a big game; if they win they go ahead of us," he said. "So we will be looking to get the three points and get a wee gap over them to keep the pressure on Hamilton. But we know it will be a hard game. We're only one point behind Hamilton and, if results go in our favour, we could go back top."