Ulster, who have won all 10 of their PRO12 contests, now lead the Pool by six points and will have serious ambitions of doing the double over the Saints to make sure they get a home draw in the last eight of the tournament.

The Belfastmen won this tournament in 1999 and for a number of campaigns had failed to come close to a quarter-final place since they lifted the trophy, but they are now on the verge of a third quarter-final in the last three years.

The Irish province will relish the prospect of playing in front of their fervent home support at Ravenhill but will be wary of a Northampton side which is still capable of producing big performances.

The Saints, who win this competition in 2000 and reached the final in 2011, know they have to get all the points they can against Ulster to keep their slim chances of a quarter-final place alive.

A defeat for Northampton would mean the end of any ambitions in Europe and a failure to reach the last eight of European rugby's biggest tournament for a second successive season.

Match Facts
• Ken Pisi is the top metre-maker (317) in the Heineken Cup this season; he has also made the most clean breaks (7), but is yet to score a try.
• Ulster back rower Chris Henry has completed all 39 tackles he has attempted this season, only Jamie Heaslip (40) has made more.
• Ulster have completed 94% of their attempted tackles this season, the best success rate in the competition.
• Ulster have won the most turnovers (37) this season, conversely Northampton have turned over the most ball (58).