Adams likes his current line-up
Ross County boss Derek Adams insists the players currently holding on to starting slots in Dingwall will have to be forcibly removed after producing two results that turned around their stalling season.
The Staggies looked like they were heading for trouble after losing their opening three Scottish Premiership fixtures.
Nine goals were conceded by mid-August as Celtic, Partick Thistle and St Johnstone were all successful.
At one point, the manager claimed those not performing for the Highlanders could be shipped out if results did not improve.
But the sharp warning has produced the desired effect after his team put three past St Mirren at home before picking up a decent draw against Hibernian in Edinburgh.
Now Adams - whose unchanged squad host Dundee United on Sunday - claims the players currently in his starting XI are there on merit and challenged his substitutes to remove them from his team.
He said: "It's up to the other players to force themselves into the side. The lads who have started the last two games have done exceptionally well and have given us four points.
"That has got us moving up the league. We have got to work under the same circumstances that every club in this league has but we have really good options on the bench.
"We are happy with the competition for places but it's up to these guys not in the team to show me they should be."
Dundee United are without the suspended Gavin Gunning and Mark Millar for the clash.
Defender Gunning is out for three league games after being retrospectively punished for aiming a kick at Celtic defender Virgil van Dijk and midfielder Millar is banned for two fixtures following his red card in the under-20 clash with Hamilton.
Winger Ryan Dow has recovered from a recent groin injury and should be fit to play.
Dundee United manager Jackie McNamara does not want to see his side drop their passing game at Ross County.
The Tangerines travel to Victoria Park knowing they face a difficult fixture with Adams' men renowned for their strength and difficulty to break down.
But McNamara, who is trying to encourage his new-look team to pass the ball at every opportunity, believes their best hope of winning the match is by sticking to their own principles in this weekend's meeting.
McNamara said: "It's never easy against a team like County.
"They always make themselves hard to beat and are usually solid at the back.
"That's what a lot of their success is based upon but we will be attempting to do what we think we are good at.
"That means we'll be trying to get the ball down and pass it around quickly.
"The last thing we want is to be sucked into some sort of battle and have to play percentage football because of that.
"That's not what we're good at so we'll want to avoid that.
"I believe we've got quality players capable of knocking things around which is what we'll be focusing on."
Source: PA
