Cardiff Blues second-row Lou Reed may be about to make his 100th appearance in the RaboDirect PRO12 but he insists a victory over Ulster Rugby will trump any personal milestones.

Last weekend the Blues were hurting after they suffered a heavy 34-9 derby defeat to Ospreys at the Liberty Stadium, leaving them down in tenth position in the RaboDirect PRO12 table.

The Ulstermen meanwhile are currently in third and saw off the Blues 39-21 at Ravenhill the last time the two sides met.

But Reed and company have all been boosted by the news that Matthew Rees will return to the squad for the first time since undergoing treatment for cancer.

And Reed has urged the entire squad to turn in a worthy performance for the club and for the returning Rees.

"Friday night's performance at Ospreys didn't show how hard we work here," he said. "This week we have regrouped, we have come together as a squad and said we can't allow that to happen again.

"We are looking to build in a performance and put some pride back into the shirt.

"Ulster are a great outfit and I'm glad to be back in these games because these games are the ones you want to play in.

“Ulster have world class players; it's a big challenge for us as a squad and to see what kind of characters we have here.

"As a player you put your boots on and get on with it, you lose track of the numbers after a while so I didn't know about the century. I don't pay much attention to the numbers I just rock up; it's going to be another game for me.

"It's great news Smiler (Rees) is back; he is a massive part of the team and the squad.

"We have all seen how his treatment has affected him and how he has come through it. He is champing at the bit to get back out there and show everyone what he has overcome.

"It will be Matthew's first game back and you have to take inspiration from him, what he has achieved and overcome."

While the Blues have lost their last five RaboDirect PRO12 fixtures, Ulster have won their last five, seeing off Edinburgh at Murrayfield 9-3 last Friday.

And while the Irish region have lost on two of their last three visits to Wales, the last time Cardiff emerged victorious from this fixture was back in February 2012.

And Tommy Bowe is looking to ensure that stat remains the same as he looks to benefit from what he believes is a wonderful artificial surface.

“Cardiff have had a bit of a turbulent season but they have quality players, a few British and Irish Lions in their team and they are a strong side”, said Bowe. “To play them over there is never going to be easy, they like to play a nice brand of rugby.
“It would be very nice to get a few tries against them again this season, I would love to go over there and score a couple of tries.

I enjoy playing there on the new artificial surface, the track is going to be very fast, hopefully the rain stays off and we can play some good rugby.”

At Arms Park, 6.30pm. Live on S4C and BBC Sport Northern Ireland

Referee: Marius Mitrea (FIR, 25th competition game)
Assistant Referees: Gwyn Morris, Sean Brickell (both WRU)
Citing Commissioner: Russell Howell (WRU)
TMO: Gareth Simmonds (WRU)