League leaders Glasgow welcome back Gregor Brown for his first appearance since suffering a hamstring injury in Scotland’s Six Nations defeat to Ireland in March. However, they will be without both Rory Darge and Jack Dempsey, meaning two of their international back-row forwards miss out.
Darge picked up a rib injury against Cardiff last weekend, while Dempsey is 'being managed', according to head coach Franco Smith. Both players are expected to return in time for the URC play-offs.
A bonus-point victory at the Affidea Stadium on Friday night would guarantee Glasgow top spot in the table. They currently lead the Stormers by a single point and sit two clear of Leinster, leaving little room for error.
Finishing first should, in theory, secure home advantage throughout the play-offs. However, as has been widely discussed, there is no available stadium in Scotland should Glasgow reach the final.
Belfast has emerged as one possible alternative venue, and Smith admitted Friday’s match could provide a useful reference point - although he was reluctant to look too far ahead.
"At the end of the day, you can play a final in any place," he said. "It's an on-the-day thing. If we get to play the final there, it will be fantastic. If we're in the final, that's going to be the next challenge for us. For now, to have a game this late in the competition, if it does work out that way, allows us to use it as a point of reference. For now, that has not come to mind. It's all about the 80 minutes that we've got in front of us."
Glasgow have already secured a home quarter-final at Scotstoun, likely to take place on May 29. After that, the stadium will be unavailable due to its use during the Commonwealth Games. Should the Warriors earn a home semi-final, it would be staged at Murrayfield, but the national stadium cannot host the final because of scheduled concerts.
Ulster's Ravenhill ground - now known commercially as the Affidea Stadium - holds special significance for Glasgow, having been the venue where they defeated Munster to win the PRO12 title in 2015. Despite that success, it has traditionally been a difficult place for the Warriors, who have not beaten Ulster there since 2013.
Glasgow will hope to draw inspiration from that 2015 triumph on Friday night. Brown's return boosts their options, with the versatile forward partnering Alex Samuel in the second row. Ally Miller shifts to blindside flanker, while Matt Fagerson moves to openside in place of Darge. Macenzzie Duncan comes in for Dempsey at No 8, and Nathan McBeth replaces the injured Jamie Bhatti at loosehead prop.
"It's good news that Gregor is now available again and can get back to the form we hope as that's going to be needed in the last part of the season," said Smith.
Explaining Dempsey's absence, he added: "Jack is just being managed at the moment. It's a combination of a couple of things. But I do feel Macenzzie Duncan is somebody who can bring something to this specific game. It's good for the quarters to be able to manage Jack as well."
Smith also expects Huw Jones, Scott Cummings and Jamie Dobie to be available for the quarter-finals. With no fixture next week, Glasgow have a fortnight to prepare those players for the play-offs.
Ulster, meanwhile, face a major European Challenge Cup final against Montpellier in Bilbao next Friday. Their selection reflects that focus, with 10 changes made and academy players Bryn Ward and Wilhelm De Klerk both handed starts.
"They need one point at least to be in the top eight. I think they've got that mission," said Smith. "You can see that the players they've got on the bench means they want to end strong in the game. They've got a strong second-half group coming on.
"I've seen that (Mark) Sexton, their attack coach, said they're ready to beat us. So that's the mindset. I'm sure they would like to go with all the confidence they can into next week's final of the Challenge Cup. So we expect that they'll come out full blast."