"Back in September 2003 the Ospreys played their first competitive fixture against Ulster and we won a close and highly competitive fixture at the Gnoll. Since then the majority of our fixtures have been hard fought and exciting contests and I am sure that Friday night will be no different."
"Our preparations for this match have been hampered by illness, injury and a lack of available analysis of the opposition. As Coaches and players you get use to reviewing the opposition ahead of a fixture but this luxury has not been available to us, whereas our opponents will have the benefit of reviewing our televised fixtures against the Blues and the Scarlets."
"We are looking to raise ourselves for this match following our disappointing start to the Magners League and we will be looking for improvements after below-par performances against our local rivals. Ravenhill is an intimidating environment for any player and it has an atmosphere that some of our younger squad members will not have encountered. However, it is vital for their personal benefit and for the benefit of the Ospreys that these players savour both the good and bad aspects of the evening and learn from the experience of playing in Ulster. We always receive a warm welcome from a passionate and well mannered crowd at Ravenhill and I am sure this will continue tomorrow evening."
Injury and squad availability news
Nikki Walker is representing Scotland and our eleven Wales 2007 Rugby World Cup squad players are unavailable for this match. Our Wales RWC 2007 squad members are Shane Williams, Sonny Parker, James Hook, Mike Phillips, Jonathan Thomas, Ian Evans, Alun Wyn Jones, Ian Gough, Adam Jones, Huw Bennett and Duncan Jones.
The following players are unavailable for selection due to injury:
Lyndon Bateman (knee/ shoulder injuries) will be available for selection against Glasgow at the end of the month
David Bishop (knee) will return in November
Ryan Jones (shoulder) is progressing in line with expectation and our medical team is pleased with his rehabilitation. An exact date for his return has still not been finalised
Ospreys team:
15 Lee Byrne
14 Stefan Terblanche
13 Mark Taylor
12 Andrew Bishop
11 Aled Brew
10 Shaun Connor
9 Justin Marshall
8 Filo Tiatia (Capt)
7 Steve Tandy
6 Tom Smith
5 Mike Powell
4 Brent Cockbain
3 Cai Griffiths
2 Barry Williams
1 Paul James
16 Richard Hibbard
17 Andrew Millward
18 Andy Lloyd
19 Ben Lewis
20 Martin Roberts
21 Gavin Henson/ Jonathan Spratt
22 Jonathan Vaughton
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