In spite of having his hand forced slightly due to further injury issues, head coach, Mark Anscombe said there was a job to be done in France on Saturday afternoon in the Heineken Cup.
Ulster face Castres in Stade Pierre-Antoine (kick-off 1.35pm) in their final Pool Four match looking to make history on two counts.
A win over the French Top 14 side would be a first competitive win ever for Ulster in France.
And a bonus-point win would secure them a home quarter-final for the first time since the 1998-99 season, when they went on and won the European Cup.
Ulster have already guaranteed a place in the last eight, but only a five match point win would guarantee them a home draw in the quarter-finals.
A win could still see them earn a home draw, but it would depend on results in other pools this weekend - a defeat would leave them having to travel in the quarters, likely to Clermont or Toulon.
Anscombe said he was not concerning himself too much with the permutations.
“We know what we need to do, the thing for us is to make sure we get the win.
“Things can happen elsewhere which could help us, but we cannot afford to be counting on that.
“We just need to keep our focus, our feet on the ground and go out there, make history and achieve the goal we set at the start of the season and get that home draw.”
Anscombe made four changes to the side which defeated Glasgow 23-6 at Ravenhill last weekend and there were also two positional switches.
Fullback Jared Payne was ruled out with a recurrence of a groin strain.
Irish winger, Craig Gilroy will move to the fullback position and Michael Allen comes in on the flank.
The significant change in the backline is the switch to outhalf for Ruan Pienaar, Paddy Jackson dropping to the bench, and Paul Marshall promoted to scrumhalf.
While it raised an eyebrow or two, it is an option Anscombe had said he would look at if it was required.
It also sets out Ulster’s stall that they are going with an strongly attacking formation in search of that bonus point.
The only change up front came in the second row.
As suggested by the News Letter on Tuesday, Iain Henderson drops to the bench and Neil McComb comes into the second row - bringing more physicality which will be necessary against a massive Castres back.
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