Darren Cave and David Pollock have been recalled to the Ulster side ahead of their crucial Heineken Cup clash with Edinburgh at Ravenhill on Friday (8 pm). Centre Cave returns in place of Ian Whitten to partner Paddy Wallace, while Pollock is named ahead of the injured Willie Faloon.
Ulster are coming off the back of an impressive win against Munster in the Magners League but need maximum points to have any hope of qualifying for the quarter-finals of the European Cup.
Of course, so do Edinburgh and Brian McLaughlin knows exactly what to expect.
"When you're playing Edinburgh you have to realise how competitive they are, they're very aggressive around the breakdown. Their defence is strong, and to beat them you have to be patient, you have to hold on to the ball,” said the coach today.
“The last two games have been very close, but we let them slip away, so from our point of view, we've got to play from first whistle to final whistle. We've got to take the opportunities when they arise.
"The players are all ready to go; they all love to play in the Heineken Cup. To have Edinburgh at home at this stage, well it's just a really huge game from that point of view.
“The fact that qualification is still within our grasp makes it an even bigger game, and the players know that. I'm very hopeful we'll get a top class performance out of them on Friday night.
"Obviously the crowd at Ravenhill have been fantastic all season for us, in our last game against Munster they roared us on in the last twenty minutes, to a really hard fought victory. Hopefully they'll all turn out on Friday night and cheer us on to make sure we get what we want, which is a vital win against Edinburgh in the European Cup."
Ulster (v Edinburgh): Jamie Smith, Andrew Trimble, Darren Cave, Paddy Wallace, Simon Danielli, Ian Humphreys, Isaac Boss; Tom Court, Nigel Brady, BJ Botha, Dan Tuohy, Ed O'Donoghue, Stephen Ferris, David Pollock, Chris Henry (capt)
Replacements: Andy Kyriacou, Bryan Young, Declan Fitzpatrick, Ryan Caldwell, TJ Anderson, Cillian Willis, Niall O'Connor, Timoci Nagusa