Celtic League:Ulster coach Mark McCall has delayed naming his team for Saturday's Magners Celtic League game against Leinster at Ravenhill until tomorrow lunch-time and instead announced a 25-man squad following training yesterday.
He will definitely be without a trio of wings in Andrew Trimble, Tommy Bowe and Andrew Maxwell all of whom are injured for a fixture that promises to attract a full house to the Belfast venue. There are less than 1,000 terrace tickets left for the match.
McCall anticipates a keenly-contested encounter against a Leinster side that won at Ravenhill in the corresponding fixture last season.
The Ulster coach admitted: "Leinster are obviously a very strong side and had a very good representation in the Ireland side during the autumn internationals.
"We are aware that they beat us twice last season but I think the Ulster side has improved since then. We were very happy with how the Ulster guys performed for Ireland and hopefully they will continue to play that way."
Tighthead prop Simon Best, happily recovered from a broken leg, underlined the depth of quality within the squad.
"The Ulster team has strength all round the pitch. There is a lot of competition for places to get in the side and this is evident on the training pitch. We are a side who plays with a lot of confidence but we don't play with arrogance.
"When we go into a match no matter who it is against we don't expect to win but we know we can win no matter who it is, if all our players perform to their ability."
The league leaders - they head Llanelli by a point - will take confidence from the performances of players like Paddy Wallace, Rory Best, Bryan Young and Neil Best during the recent international Test series.
Ulster Rugby have announced that Saturday's game will be all-ticket.
Meanwhile Munster welcome back not only their international contingent for Sunday's clash with Connacht at Thomond Park but former All Black fullback Christian Cullen. The Kiwi has not played since damaging a shoulder while tackling Paul Steinmetz in a game against Ulster at Musgrave Park on September 30th.
The only major absentee is prop Marcus Horan, who tore his calf playing for Ireland and is likely to be out until the New Year. Coach Declan Kidney should be in a position to confirm his team tomorrow evening.
Meanwhile, Connacht will not announce their squad for the Munster game until tomorrow morning and won't release the match 22 until Saturday as they wish to give a late fitness test to prop Stephen Knoop.
The South African came through an A match last week having been sidelined by back trouble. He trained yesterday but coach Michael Bradley wants to ascertain if there is any reaction to the injury.
The western province will definitely be without their top try scorer Matt Mostyn (four) after he broke a bone in his leg while scoring a try against Cardiff. He will be out of action for a further nine to 11 weeks after undergoing an operation a couple of days ago.
Tom Tierney (ankle), Joe Merrigan (leg) and Ronan Loughney (knee) are also unavailable for selection.
Weekend squads
LEINSTER (v Ulster):R McCormack, R Corrigan, B Blaney, H Vermaas, F Pala'amo, T Hogan, M O'Kelly, O Finegan, C Jowitt, S Keogh, K Gleeson, J Heaslip, C Whitaker, G Easterby, A Dunne, C Warner, G D'Arcy, B O'Driscoll, K Lewis, S Horgan, D Hickie, L Fitzgerald, G Dempsey, R Kearney.
ULSTER (v Leinster):P Marshall, K Campbell, I Boss, D Humphreys, A Larkin, P Wallace, K Maggs, P Steinmetz, P McKenzie, M Bartholomeusz, B Cunningham, S Young, S Best, B Young, J Fitzpatrick, R Best, P Shields, J Harrison, M McCullough, T Barker, R Wilson, N Best, K Dawson, N McMillan, S Ferris.
MUNSTER (v Connacht):S Payne, C Cullen, A Horgan, J Kelly, B Murphy, L Mafi, T Halstead, I Dowling, J Manning, E Hickey, R O'Gara, P Stringer, T O'Leary, F Pucciariello, D Hurley, J Hayes, F Sheahan, F Roche, A Kyriacou, M O'Driscoll, D O'Callaghan, P O'Connell, A Quinlan, J O'Sullivan, D Leamy, D Wallace, T McGann.
