"There is a definite strong willingness for players to want to come to the football club, which is very encouraging.
Some other ones who might be using you to try and force a move into the Premier League or something, fine.
You can see through that quite quickly.
But at the end of it all, yes, I'm hopeful because I think there's a strong willingness for deals to be done.
We're working with things.
Some things we thought that we were well down the line with have been thwarted by things that were actually outside our control, believe it or not.
I won't go into detail. There's a couple of things that are progressing pretty well as we speak.
So, I'm hopeful. If you said to me, at 14 out and we've got half that number in...
if half that number are going to have a real impact on the football club over the season, I would be satisfied with that."
O'Neill also faces the challenge of preparing for upcoming Champions League qualifiers while managing potential exits.
"In an ideal world, I would love to do that," O'Neill said. "I don't know what might happen.
At this minute, that's the thing that was in front of me for the West Ham thing. So, we're a long way away from that.
But things can happen very, very quickly. That would be something.
One part of me is trying to cater for players possibly leaving.
It is pressing because we'd like to have as strong a squad as possible for those Champions League games."
O'Neill praised the club's recruitment staff for their diligence in identifying options.
"In fairness to the recruitment side, they are very diligent," O'Neill said. "Seriously, they are.
There's options.
Some that might be well and truly beyond us, might be silly, there might be more interest in trying to keep a player here rather than develop the option.
But overall the recruitment staff hand me information all."
Ahead of the Dundee match, midfielder Benjamin Nygren is back to full availability.
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Defender Auston Trusty has returned to training after personal leave in the United States, while Liam Scales remains suspended.
