Ulster v Benetton: McCloskey injury not long-term and Bell to sit out Benetton game

Having not played since going down 49-31 to the Lions in South Africa on 25 October, Murphy’s charges will aim to get back to winning ways in front of their home fans at the Affidea Stadium on Friday after their five-week hiatus.

Ulster sit fifth in the URC table with three wins from their opening four fixtures.

“No matter what games you play in the URC, they are really difficult games. The days of Italian teams being soft touches is well gone,” affirmed Murphy.

“The Benetton squad is very dense, good players and they have a huge budget.

“What they’re going to send over I’m not quite sure. I think they had 12 players playing for Italy last weekend, and they had a team playing Zebre as well, so they’ve had two teams preparing.

“We just have to look after ourselves. We’ve had a really good bloc. The last three weeks have been excellent and the lads have worked really hard in training so we’re looking forward to getting back at it [on] Friday night.”

After a long period of inaction, Ulster now enter a series of 10 matches which will take in six URC games and participation in the Challenge Cup on the European stage.

The province will host Racing 92 and Stade Francais in European rugby’s second tier, and travel to take on Cardiff and the Cheetahs.

“You look at the two French teams we’re going to play at home. They’re in the top seven in France so they’re top class teams.

“But I think it’s really important we look at this 10-game bloc and think what’s most important for us. I think it’s really important that we work our way up the URC and get into the top tier of Europe.

“That’s one of our big targets. Those Challenge Cup games are really important but there will be times across this bloc when we have to rotate our squad and rely on some of the young guys coming through. It’s going to be exciting to see that.”