McCall sticks to winning formula

Ulster team news: Ulster coach Mark McCall has announced an unchanged side, from that which beat Saracens 19-10 at Ravenhill, for Saturday's Heineken European Cup match against the same opposition, this time at Vicarage Road. His one main concern was an injury to openside flanker Neil McMillan, who was forced to retire with damaged ribs at the interval.

Promising under-21 international Stephen Ferris deputised, but won't start on Saturday as a scan showed no damage to the bone or ligaments in relation to McMillan's ribs. There is one change to the replacements as Justin Fitzpatrick has recovered from a broken hand and is preferred to Australian Rod Moore.

Saracens, who have yet to finalise their team, are still smarting form last week's defeat and the club's director of rugby Steve Diamond has already vowed that his charges "will smash them" at Vicarage Road.

Head coach and former Ireland defensive guru Mike Ford was a little less gung-ho. He preferred to call upon the Saracens supporters to create an atmosphere reminiscent of the one at Vicarage Road when the English club played Biarritz earlier in the tournament.

"There was a cauldron-like atmosphere at Ravenhill on Friday night when we faced Ulster, but we managed to keep the home crowd reasonably quiet until the final 15 minutes.

"In the early part of the game we could hear the Saracens fans who had made the trip and we'll need to hear them again on Saturday.

"We want to show Europe what a good club we are and the crowd have a massive part to play in that in creating a fantastic atmosphere and pulling us all together - just as we did for the Biarritz match."

Ford has poured over the video of the Ulster match and feels that it was very much a case of an opportunity lost.

"We had a good first half, but should have gone in more than 7-3 up. Had we done that, I think it would have been the key because in those conditions, if you were taking a 10-point lead into the second half, it would be very difficult for the opposition to pull it back.

"After the break, they pulled us back, but we still had two good chances to close the game out. It's a massive learning curve for us, (but) every side must go through these situations in order to become a great team so we will learn from it.

He added: "We know what we have to do on Saturday. We need to win and look to get a bonus point. Ulster will also come here knowing that if they can get a victory then they will be in prime position in the group - especially as they still have Biarritz to play at home."

ULSTER (v Saracens): B Cunningham; T Bowe, K Maggs, A Trimble, P Steinmetz; D Humphreys, K Campbell; B Young, R Best, S Best; M McCullough, J Harrison; N Best, N McMillan, R Wilson. Replacements: N Brady, J Fitzpatrick, R Caldwell, S Ferris, I Boss, A Larkin, J Topping.