O'Connor and McCrea in Ulster squad

Ulster coach Matt Williams has included Niall O'Connor and Mark McCrea in an extended 24-man squad for Friday's Magners League match against Ospreys at Ravenhill.

Williams pulled no punches on what he thought of the Welsh side: "The Ospreys are a fantastic team, a brilliant team and physically they are a massive side.

"No-one expects us to win. Everyone has written us off, everyone says we can't do it, so this is a week when there is not a lot of pressure on us, and that is a good thing," said Williams.

ULSTER SQUAD (v Ospreys):

FORWARDS:

Brendon Botha, Tom Court, Bryan Young, Ed O'Donoghue, Matt McCullough, Carlo Del Fava, Chris Henry, Nigel Brady, David Pollock, Rory Best, Ryan Caldwell, Robbie Diack

BACKS:

Simon Daneilli, Andrew Trimble, Darren Cave, Cillian Willis, Niall O'Connor, Clinton Schifcofske, Ian Whitten, Isaac Boss, Ian Humphreys, Timoci Nagusa, Mark McCrea, Paddy Wallace