Edinburgh welcome Phil Godman back ahead of must-win tie

• Edinburgh's Chris Paterson requires just nine points to equal Duncan Hodge's Heineken Cup points-scoring record. Picture: Phil Wilkinson

Godman and fellow Scotland international Alan MacDonald both start after missing last Saturday's 21-12 Magners League triumph over Cardiff Blues due to a hip injury and viral infection respectively, with Rory Hutton and Ross Rennie – arguably the two most impressive Edinburgh players in that victory – making way.

Scotland A prop David Young will make his first-ever Heineken Cup start for Edinburgh in Belfast – the city where he was born and spent the first month of his life while his father was in the army.

Head coach Rob Moffat knows Edinburgh cannot afford to slip up in their penultimate pool match if they are to reach the quarter-finals.

"Every game is a must-win game for us, but we know that if we are going to progress in the Heineken Cup then we need a victory at Ravenhill," he said. "Ulster are on the same points as us in the pool, so there is a huge amount at stake. We have made a couple of changes this week – Phil has come back in for Rory, who is ineligible for the Heineken Cup. Ross Rennie wasn't going to play this week because of where he is with his knee. We just felt we would rest him this week.

"There were some tight calls: we felt Dave Young did well last week and has done enough to keep Geoff Cross out. The scenario with the centres is very interesting as well – Nick De Luca is back on the bench and pushing for a starting spot very hard. That level of competition keeps everyone on their toes."

Moffat added: "Ulster have got some dangerous runners and scored two tries against us when we last played at Ravenhill.

"But we played with a lot of confidence against Cardiff and everybody is looking forward to this game."

Scrum-half Mike Blair is still ruled out with an ankle injury, but Edinburgh's first-team captain is moving closer to a return. However, Ally Hogg is expected to be out for a few months after undergoing surgery to repair a hip problem last month.

Prop Young, who was brought up in Glenrothes, is delighted to be handed his chance and he was keen to play down his link to Northern Ireland's capital.

"I'm just delighted to be given an opportunity on Friday and it is a must-win game," he said

"My father was in the Army for 25 years and he just happened to be on tour in Belfast when my mother was pregnant with me. So we were only over there for a month.

"We are facing a quality Ulster side, who have got a great forward pack and a great set-piece. In front of their home crowd, it will be a tough game.

"But we realise that we have to win this match if we want to progress in Europe. We managed to pick ourselves up against Cardiff and that win was a real confidence boost. Now everything is about Ulster."

David Blair (ankle), Simon Cross (knee), Andrew Easson (knee) and Ryan Grant (ankle) are all still out but Scotland wing Simon Webster has recovered from his long-term hamstring injury and travels to Belfast as 24th man.

Chris Paterson, meanwhile, requires nine points to equal Duncan Hodge's Heineken Cup points-scoring record.

For Ulster, two changes have been made to the starting XV from the team that gained victory over Munster in the Magners League on 2 January.

In the backs, Darren Cave partners Paddy Wallace at centre, in-place of Ian Whitten. In the pack, David Pollock starts as open side flanker, replacing the injured Willie Faloon.

On the replacements bench, Bryan Young is named as the additional front row replacement.

Commenting on the must win game, Ulster head coach Brian McLaughlin said: "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. 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."

ULSTER TEAM: 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, Chris Henry (Capt), David Pollock. Subs: Andy Kyriacou, Bryan Young, Declan Fitzpatrick, Ryan Caldwell, TJ Anderson, Cillian Willis, Niall O'Connor, Timoci Nagusa