Simon Danielli the danger man as Edinburgh chase gold

•Simon Danielli

Edinburgh head for Danielli's Ulster tomorrow night knowing that victory is essential to reach the last eight of the premier Heineken Cup competition. There is an additional carrot as from this season, of course, when places become available to three group runners-up to enter the second-tier Amlin Challenge Cup.

Paterson says: "The power of their game is a real threat while they now have a settled back line with Andrew Trimble and Simon Danielli dangerous out wide."

Edinburgh have won away from home in the European Cup only once since 2003-04 but on Celtic League business they have won as often on the road – three times – as they have at home.

Such quixotic form isn't lost on Paterson, who said: "Of the two of us Ulster are the ones in better form, and they will have home advantage but, having won at Ravenhill already this season, we know we are capable of going there and doing it."

Edinburgh and Ulster are both on nine points with Stade Franais setting the pace on 13. Bath have six points and are out of the qualification hunt.

Paterson adds: "Make no mistake about it, there is still a lot to play for. For perhaps the first time I can recall since I started playing in the Heineken Cup we are coming up to weekend No.5 and you still cannot tell with any degree of certainty just how the group is going to finish."

Edinburgh won the Murrayfield match against Ulster 17-13 and also beat them in the Magners League but Paterson insists Ulster are the form side and that past results will count for nothing in Belfast.

"This is a whole new ball game. Stade have put themselves in pole position with one more win than ourselves and Ulster but, so far, there is no real winner or loser in our group.

"Sometimes after just a couple of rounds sides can see they are already on the way out but this pool is finely balanced and it promises to be an exciting weekend in Paris and Belfast.

"However, we know full well that, if we lose at Ravenhill, we will be as good as out.

"Ulster are a very physical, abrasive, big and powerful team but they are also pretty quick.

"We know we have performed poorly away from home so we need to sort that out and an away win on Friday would be like gold dust.

"We were disappointed to lose the two big derby games against Glasgow – they deserved to win on both occasions – but we are a bit out of form and have hit something of a blip.

"How we recover from that is to go out and do the small things more accurately, eliminate those unforced mistakes and, hopefully, start scoring some more tries.

"Of course we have to go into the game with a positive attitude, knowing that in those two previous games this season both were very similar and both could have gone either way.

"As always in the Heineken Cup, bonus points could well have a big part to play in qualification and then there is also possible Amlin Challenge Cup quarter-final qualification in the mix this time for three Heineken Cup runners-up.

"Obviously all of us target success in the Heineken Cup as the main objective but the more European games you can play at this level the better."

Meanwhile, Edinburgh won't face France scrum half Julien Dupuy in their final pool match against Stade Francais after his 24-week ban for eye gouging was reduced by just one week by an independent appeal committee.

The 26-year-old, who joined Stade from Leicester in the summer of 2009, will also miss France's Six Nations campaign.

He was handed the original ban for gouging Ulster flanker Stephen Ferris during Stade's 23-13 Heineken Cup defeat at Ravenhill on December 12.

Stade president Max Guazzini described the suspension as "excessive, very political and anti-French". But the appeal committee, chaired by Professor Lorne Crerar of Scotland, found that the original decision had been in error only in a "limited and technical manner".