Connacht head coach Eric Elwood insists his side cannot afford to slip up against Treviso at the Sportsground on Saturday after losing four of their last five RaboDirect PRO12 games.

Elwood’s men were beaten 26-9 by Ospreys last time out and have only two RaboDirect PRO12 wins to their name all season.

The province make six changes to the team that started at the Liberty Stadium with Danie Poolman handed his first start for Connacht after being named at outside centre.

Denis Buckley returns at loosehead prop with Mike McCarthy joining Michael Swift in the second row after being released from Declan Kidney’s Irish camp ahead of the autumn internationals.

After returning to full training this week, Andrew Browne joins Johnny O’Connor and Eoin McKeon in the back row.

Kieran Marmion and Dan Parks pair up at half-back again with Dave McSharry alongside Poolman in midfield.

It is Connacht’s first home RaboDirect PRO12 match since their 34-6 win over Leinster in September and Elwood is hoping they can put in a repeat performance.

“It has become a must-win for us and it is well within our range. We just need to cut out some of the errors and capitalise on the chances we are creating,” said Elwood.

“It has been a busy period but there is a break coming up and we need to go into that with a win under our belt.”

For Treviso, head coach Franco Smith hands RaboDirect PRO12 debuts to Marco Fuser, Corniel Van Zyl and Angelo Esposito.

Treviso will be looking to bounce back after their two-game RaboDirect PRO12 winning run was ended by Glasgow Warriors last week, the Italian side losing 24-13 at Stadio di Monigo.

It will be no easy feat, with Connacht having won their last three games against Italian opposition in all competitions and Treviso losing their last six clashes against Irish provinces.

However their last victory over an Irish side came in the corresponding fixture last season, beating Connacht 15-13 at Galway.

Treviso are also four points better off than Connacht in the RaboDirect PRO12 with wins over Ospreys, Scarlets and Edinburgh already under their belts this season, while Leinster needed a late Jonny Sexton drop goal to see them off.

However it is two wins apiece in the previous four encounters between the two sides, with the head-to-head statistics also suggesting a tight encounter – both teams scored seven tries and landed 14 kicks, while Treviso’s cumulative points tally (73) over the four games is one higher than Connacht’s.

At Sportsground, 5pm
Referee: Leighton Hodges (WRU, 21st competition game)
Assistant Referees: Paul Haycock, E Hogan-O’Connell (both IRFU)
Citing Commissioner: John Cole (IRFU)