Zebre team manager Andrea De Rossi insists his players know of the challenge that lies ahead as they prepare to face Ulster in the GUINNESS PRO12 on Friday, but he is determined his side can bounce back from their recent string of defeats.

Zebre haven’t won since mid-January after their European triumph at Worcester Warriors, and have failed to record a victory outside of Italy in the GUINNESS PRO12 since September 2013.

De Rossi will however welcome back three internationals to the team as Giulio Bisegni, Dario Chistolini and Edoardo Padovani return from Italy’s Six Nations squad.

He can also count on the contribution of Tommaso Castello, Fabio Semenzato and Ian McKinley in Ireland, but will be without four key players who were injured against Leinster on Sunday in prop Bruno Postiglioni, flanker Jacopo Sarto and two centres Matteo Pratichetti and Tommaso Boni.

Zebre have won just once against Ulster in their last six meetings, with De Rossi well aware of the challenge ahead.

“It will be difficult and we have had to add four injured players to our long list of those who are unavailable,” he said.

“However, we rely on the return of some important players who will lead the group through this difficult phase of the season with the Six Nations taking place.

“Once again, we face a test of character against one of the toughest teams in the competition.

“We have to prepare for the game in just two days because we played on Sunday and rested on Monday, so we have had just two training sessions before flying to Ireland.

“We will run the team out in the beautiful Kingspan, a notoriously difficult place to play.”

Ulster currently sit fourth in the GUINNESS PRO12 table despite losing their last two games in the competition.

Looking to avoid losing three in a row in the league in the same season for the first time since 2011/2012, Ulster welcome back captain Rob Herring, who will be joined in the front row by Kyle McCall at loosehead prop and Ricky Lutton at tighthead.

Rory Scholes will come into the backline and will play on the right wing, with Stuart Olding replacing Sammy Arnold at inside centre after he was ruled out with a hamstring injury.

Joining Olding in the centre will be Luke Marshall, who signed a contract extension with the province this week, while Paul Marshall has been selected on the bench after overcoming a virus.

But despite the Ulstermen’s recent disappointing run, director of rugby Les Kiss insists the visit of Zebre offers the perfect opportunity to get back to winning ways.

“We’re really disappointed with what we’ve delivered over the past three or four weeks,” he said.

“We’ve worked it back to a couple of key areas. We’re just missing a level of excellence in certain skills sets.

“But we know what we are capable of and if we can get those things right, I believe we can deliver and make sure we are in a position to make Europe but also make the PRO12 semi-finals.”

At Kingspan Stadium, 7.35pm Live on BBC Sport NI
Referee: George Clancy (IRFU, 77th competition game)
Assistant Referees: Gary Conway, Paul Haycock (both IRFU)
Citing Commissioner: Eddie Wigglesworth (IRFU)
TMO: Kevin Beggs (IRFU).