Edinburgh v Ulster: Teams

National Academy flanker Roddy Grant will make his Edinburgh debut when the Scottish side host Ulster in the Magners League on Friday.

With Ross Rennie out for the season with knee ligament damage and Alan MacDonald also ruled out with injury, Grant will play in an unfamiliar back-row with blindside flanker Simon Cross and number eight Allister Hogg.

Grant, who debuted in the Magners League with the Borders in 2007, is focused on making the most of the opportunity.

"I'm absolutely delighted to get the chance and I'm looking forward to it," the 21-year-old told the club's official website.

"Playing in the Magners League is one of my goals and I will be determined to give it everything I've got."

Simon Cross will make his first start of the season alongside Grant in the back-row.

"I'm delighted to be back playing again and grateful for the opportunity. We are looking to bounce back after the disappointing result at Glasgow last week," Cross said.

In total, Edinburgh have made five changes to the line-up that suffered a 25-20 defeat to their rivals at Firhill.

Andrew Turnbull will wear the number 14 jersey due to Mark Robertson's groin injury while John Houston is preferred to Nick De Luca at inside centre.

Matt Mustchin is sidelined with an ankle injury and is replaced at lock by Craig Hamilton. Chris Paterson is still out of action with a injured ribs.

Respect

Ulster coach Matt Williams has made three changes to the side that took a bonus point win from Munster at Thomond Park.

Mark McCrea, David Pollock and Rory Best all return to the starting XV, with Timoci Nagusa out injured and Kieron Dawson and Nigel Brady dropping to the bench.

And despite beating Munster last time out, Williams insists there is more to come from his side.

He said: "Edinburgh are a powerful team of great professionals, and we will give them the respect they deserve. The bad news for our opposition is that there were so many aspects of our game I wasn't happy with on Saturday night. We can improve a lot in three or four areas, tactical and technically.

"We're in a really positive frame of mind and we have to take that on the road, but that shouldn't be a worry for us and there is no reason why we can't win away from home. We proved that at Thomond Park.

"Before it was just about convincing people and now we have got the proof. We threw points away earlier in the year and now it is up to us to get them back. If we can win on Friday its incredible how close to the top of the table we can come. So we're going to give it a go."

Edinburgh: 15 Hugo Southwell, 14 Andrew Turnbull, 13 Ben Cairns, 12 John Houston, 11 Simon Webster, 10 Phil Godman, 9 Mike Blair (c), 8 Allister Hogg, 7 Roddy Grant, 6 Simon Cross, 5 Jim Hamilton, 4 Craig Hamilton, 3 Geoff Cross, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Allan Jacobsen.

Replacements: 16 Andrew Kelly, 17 Gavin Kerr, 18 Ben Gissing, 19 Scott Newlands, 20 Greig Laidlaw, 21 David Blair, 22 Nick De Luca.

Ulster: 15 Clinton Schifcofske, 14 Andrew Trimble, 13 Darren Cave, 12 Paddy Wallace, 11 Mark McCrea, 10 Ian Humphreys, 9 Isaac Boss, 1 Tom Court, 2 Rory Best (capt), 3 BJ Botha, 4 Ed O'Donoghue, 5 Matt McCullough, 6 Stephen Ferris, 7 David Pollock, 8 Rob Diack.
Replacements: 16 Nigel Brady, 17 Justin Fitpzatrick, 18 Filo Paulo, 19 Kieron Dawson, 20 Paul Marshall, 21 Paul Steinmetz, 22 Bryn Cunningham..