Dundee United midfielder, Paul Paton, has rebuffed any thoughts that he and his team-mates are at risk of allowing their season to unravel due to inconsistency.

United face a crucial run of games over the coming weeks, beginning with today's visit of St Johnstone, followed by next month's Scottish Cup quarter-final home tie with Celtic, along with their League Cup Final with Ronny Deila's side on March 15.

It is a run of games which could well define United's season, but Jackie McNamara's side succumbed to a disappointing 3-2 defeat away to Kilmarnock last weekend to take some of the shine off what has been an impressive run of recent results.

However, midfielder Paton insists they are still on course for a memorable season and are punching above their weight domestically as they seek to maintain their challenge on all three fronts.

"We're fourth in the table so it's hard to call us inconsistent," he said. "We're roughly where we were last season. We're a good side.

"People will always have a go at you no matter how well you're doing.

"But we've done really well this season and we're not that far off Celtic and Aberdeen, who have much bigger budgets than we do.

"I think for us to be competing at that end of the table with a much lower budget speaks volumes for how well we're doing.

"The games that are coming up against Celtic will be huge but we've got big games before that.

"We've got three home games coming up in the league that we need to win if we're going to push on for a European place and that's all we're focusing on."

United have had to deal with the recent loss of former influential duo Gary Mackay-Steven and Stuart Amrstrong, who were both transferred to Celtic in January.

And Armstrong was on target for his new club in their thrilling 3-3 Europa League draw with Inter Milan at Parkhead on Thursday as he continues to impress in his new surroundings.

But Paton maintains the Tannadice club must embrace the challenge of thriving once again, irrespective of players who have left the club.

He said: "Stuart and Gary are away now and we've really got to draw a line under it.

"They did well for the club, but so have plenty of other people who are still at the club and the gaffer has brought in some good new signings.

"It's time to move on."

Meanwhile, former United player Danny Swanson has paid tribute to his former club and is confident they can go from strength to strength, despite their continual loss of their best players.

Swanson, a member of the Tannadice club's Scottish Cup-winning side in 2010, was a host of names who departed following that triumph, with Craig Conway, David Goodwillie and Johnny Russell all having since left Tayside.

And 28-year-old Swanson, now on-loan at St Johnstone from Coventry City, believes that the recent windfall at his old club from selling the likes of Mackay-Steven and Armstrong will be wisely invested by chairman Stephen Thompson.

"United are a club that's definitely going in the right direction," he said. "It started with Craig Levein. He came in and made changes from top to bottom and they have gone from strength to strength since then.

"They do things right and they've got a lot of good players.

"We had a good team in my days there, with the likes of Conway, Russell and Goodie. It was a successful team, as well. We won the cup and finished third - that was as good as it could get.

"When I left, there were a few of us going and I was thinking 'which way is it going to go'?

"United have a knack of getting players from nowhere, like Andy Robertson. I'm not worried for them."

Reflecting on his time at Tannadice, Swanson said: "I loved it there. It was great times. But this is a massive game for us and I am focused on getting a good result for St Johnstone.

"The manager told us that we might drop out of the top six for a game or so, but we can get back."