Johnny Watterson

As anticipated, David Quinlan was cleared to line out at centre for Leinster following a Celtic League disciplinary hearing on Wednesday night. That's good news for coach Gary Ella, who would have been a little short-staffed in that area, with Kieran Lewis and Christian Warner unavailable with knee (Lewis) and neck (Warner) injuries.

Even so, Leinster's task in Ravenhill Park is considerable. The manner in which they lost to Edinburgh last week at Donnybrook was crushing and even when they look at the video and see the array of things they did well in the match, their ability to hand back what appear to be commanding leads must at least give opponents the feeling they are never out of the game.

Ulster are notoriously protective of their record in Belfast and their run in the League has been in striking contrast to that of Leinster. Sitting in fourth place with two wins from three, Ulster have belied their diminished player-pool and are keeping pace admirably in the top quarter.

But Ella continues to maintain faith in his side, not least their attacking ability and back-line flair, and is clearly relieved about Quinlan's inclusion.

"I'm both pleased and relieved, relieved I've got the number one starting centre and pleased he got off and is able to play," said Ella yesterday. "It was a hard decision to send him off. Obviously the disciplinary committee saw it that to lose the game was probably punishment enough. The first thing he did was apologise to the team. It was out of character for him and he was very disappointed."

Ella believes Leinster could have won all of their opening games, lapses often late in the matches being their undoing. In contrast, Ulster, with a team laced with experienced players such as Ryan Constable, Shane Stewart, Tyrone Howe, Andy Ward and Tony McWhirter, have managed to keep a much more even keel and with New Zealander Adam Larkin kicking well, their start to the season has been less confused. Last week Ward, Constable, McWhirter and Howe touched down, with Larkin kicking four conversions and three penalties for their 37-18 win over Gwent.

Again, Leinster will try to work the ball wide, typically playing a dynamic running game. Matthew Leek, over his groin strain, and Shane Jennings in the back row with Des Dillon will play pivotal roles - Dillon easily matching Victor Costello's penchant for ball carrying in heavy traffic.

Don't bet against Leinster taking a lead but winning is altogether a different matter.

ULSTER: B Cunningham; S Young, R Constable, S Stewart, T Howe; A Larkin, K Campbell; R McCormack, P Shields, B Young, M Mustchin, M McCullough, A Ward (capt), N Best, T McWhirter. Replacements: N Brady, S Shawe, R Frost, R Wilson, R Spee, S Mallon, J Topping.

LEINSTER: G D'Arcy; J McWeeney, G Brown, D Quinlan, B Burke; M Leek, B O'Riordan; J Lyne, G Hickie, E Byrne, L Cullen (capt), B Gissing, A McCullen, D Dillon, S Jennings. Replacements: P Coyle, D Blaney, A Kearney, N Breslin, B O'Meara, J Downey, J Norton.

Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)

Ulster v Leinster

Ravenhill, 7.30