Glasgow v Ulster: Teams

Glasgow welcome back Scotland international John Barclay for Friday night's crunch Magners League match with Ulster at Firhill.

Barclay has recovered from a stomach bug to make the team for the second of three home matches in an vital April for the Warriors.

The powerful flanker withdrew from the starting XV during the warm-up prior to the 27-19 victory over the Dragons two weeks ago.

"John gave his absolute all against Munster where he was absolutely outstanding," said coach Sean Lineen.

"I haven't seen a performance like that from a seven in a long time. However, we need the back-row to step up as a group and the front five have a huge job to do in order to give us the platform for success."

Lineen continued with his thoughts ahead of Ulster's visit to Firhill, building up the game as being crucial to their play-off aspirations.

"Every game is a knock-out game so this Friday is massive for us," he said.

"Ulster have won on their last three visits to Firhill and they always get a good following here in Glasgow. But our support has been fantastic all season and I've no doubt that the Glasgow fans will make the most noise and really get behind the players."

Lessons

Meanwhile, Ulster head coach Brian McLaughlin insists his side can take valuable lessons from their 38-27 Magners League defeat to Ospreys on Tuesday.

"We had a good review of Tuesday night's game against the Ospreys, and we got to look at our defence, which is still suffering from inconsistencies," said McLaughlin.

"For Andrew Trimble's try our defence was magnificent, and for Danielli's try, well that also came from a defensive turnover, so we know the key is to be more consistent.

"Our set piece on Tuesday night was a lot more solid, we just have to stop giving away soft tries. Shane Williams' try was a prime example and we gifted James Hook two tries under the posts, so we must improve in this aspect of our play.

"Glasgow are a quality side and we're expecting a very tough game. It's been a quick turnaround for us from the Ospreys. Physically we're in good shape, so now the challenge is to get the players mentally focused for this very important game."

Glasgow: 15 Bernardo Stortoni, 14 Colin Shaw, 13 Max Evans, 12 Graeme Morrison, 11 DTH van der Merwe, 10 Dan Parks, 9 Mark McMillan, 1 Kevin Tkachuk, 2 Fergus Thomson, 3 Moray Low, 4 Tim Barker, 5 Alastair Kellock (capt), 6 Kelly Brown, 7 John Barclay, 8 Johnnie Beattie.
Replacements: 16 Fergus Thomson, 17 Ed Kalman, 18 Dan Turner, 19 Calum Forrester, 20 Chris Cusiter, 21 Ruaridh Jackson, 22 Hefin O'Hare.

Ulster: 15 Simon Danielli, 14 Andrew Trimble, 13 Darren Cave, 12 Ian Whitten, 11 Nevin Spence, 10 Ian Humphreys, 9 Paul Marshall, 1 Tom Court, 2 Andi Kyriacou, 3 Declan Fitzpatrick, 4 Ed O'Donoghue, 5 Ryan Caldwell, 6 Stephen Ferris, 7 Chris Henry (Capt), 8 Robbie Diack.
Replacements: 16 Nigel Brady, 17 BJ Botha, 18 Dan Tuohy, 19 David Pollock, 20 Isaac Boss, 21 Niall O'Connor, 22 Jamie Smith.