Humphreys, Cave and Payne back for Ulster

Ulster have been boosted by the inclusion of Ian Humphreys, Darren Cave and Jared Payne in the starting XV for Friday's RaboDirect PRO12 game against Treviso at Ravenhill (7.05pm).

The backline trio have overcome recent injuries with Humphreys (shoulder) replacing Paddy Jackson at outhalf and Cave replacing Luke Marshall in the centre. Cave is named at outside centre so Nevin Spence will move inside to wear the no12 shirt.

Payne has shaken off a dead leg and will make only his third appearance for the Province at fullback in place of Adam D'Arcy.

Brian McLaughlin has made three changes up front. Andi Kyriacou comes in for Nigel Brady at hooker after starting from the bench in last week's defeat to the Dragons while Tim Barker gets a chance to impress in the second row alongside Dan Tuohy, with Lewis Stevenson named among the replacements.

The other change in the pack will see Mike McComish make his first competitive start for the Province as he is named at openside flanker instead of Willie Faloon. Kyle McCall is among the replacements for the second consecutive week and could make his debut if selected.

Prop Paddy McAllister is unavailable for selection having sustained a concussion during the week while Callum Black’s neck injury continues to rule him out of contention.

McLaughlin knows the Italian sides are constantly improving and expects a stern test from a Treviso outfit looking for three wins in a row.

"We know the Italian teams are very physical. This season they've added a lot of attacking rugby to their game and they are playing a nice brand and scoring tries.

“We will have to be at our best there's no doubt about that. But we're delighted to be back in front of our home fans at Ravenhill and we're hopeful we can return to winning ways."

Ulster (v Treviso): J Payne; C Gilroy, D Cave, N Spence, I Whitten; I Humphreys, P Marshall; D Fitzpatrick, A Kyriacou, J Cronin; T Barker, D Tuohy; P Wannenburg, M McComish, C Henry (c);

Replacements: N Brady, K McCall, A Macklin, L Stevenson, R Diack, I Porter, P Jackson, A D'Arcy