Tommy Bowe will make his first appearance of the season for Ulster when they take on Zebre in Parma on Saturday and the winger is already counting down the minutes until he is back out on the pitch in the Guinness PRO12.

The Ireland winger sustained a knee injury during last autumn’s Rugby World Cup which kept him out of action for a lengthy period of time but he played 40 minutes of Ulster A’s clash with Munster last week.

Bowe was actually due to start on the bench but Andrew Trimble’s illness has seen him elevated to the starting XV, something he is excited about.

While most eyes at Stadio Sergio Lafranchi will be on the 32-year-old, the game itself is a crucial one as Ulster look to keep their top-four hopes alive – currently lying fifth, three points off fourth-placed Scarlets.

A five-point victory over the Guinness PRO12’s 11th-placed side is a must and the fact the Ulstermen have won six of the seven clashes with their Italian rivals suggest they could well get just that.

Zebre are without a league win since January 3 when they downed Treviso 18-8, while their only previous victory over an Irish province was against Ulster in Parma in September 2014.

And while Bowe is aware of the stakes for his team, he is also looking to reassure himself that his knee is back to full health.

“Obviously coming back from an injury like that is all about building confidence and reassuring yourself that the knee will be ok,” said Bowe.

“Once I was able to take the ball into contact a few times last week for Ulster A, I felt good and fortunately I got a good bit of ball.

"It wasn't quite the plan [to start] but I'm delighted to be out there and getting some game time.

“It's been over five months since I last played a competitive match and this is a great one to come back for, with so much at stake.

"The sun is out so it will be a little bit different to training in the rain all week. It should prove to be a good game with some free-flowing rugby and hopefully we can get plenty of ball and finish off a few tries.

"We've three big games to get ourselves into the play-offs and who knows what will happen from there.

“We all have to work hard as they will be three tough matches, but we're confident that we can produce three wins."

In addition to Bowe’s return, Stuart Olding starts at inside centre in place of the injured Stuart McCloskey, while Pete Browne teams up in the second row with Franco van der Merwe, who will make his 50th appearance for the club.

For Zebre’s part, they have made four changes from the starting XV which lost 43-14 to Glasgow Warriors last time out.

The only backline alteration sees Giulio Bisegni come in at outside centre, meaning Matteo Patichetti switches inside and Gonzalo Garcia drops out of the line-up.

In the pack, Jean Cook is in for Emiliano Caffini at blindside flanker, Valerio Bernabo replaces Quintin Geldenhuys in the boiler room and prop Pietro Ceccarelli gets the nod over Dario Chistolini.

All four players will have to play well on the day if Zebre are to emerge triumphant but one stat that will buoy them is the fact that Ulster’s last four Guinness PRO12 encounters have all been won by the home side on the day while their only road win in the competition in 2016 came on a trip to Treviso in January.

At Stadio Lanfranchi, 5pm local time (4pm UK & Ireland) Live on RAI Sport and BBC Sport NI
Referee: Nigel Owens (WRU, 133rd competition game)
Assistant Referees: Claudio Blessano, Andrea Spadoni (both FIR)
Citing Commissioner: Francesco Grillo (FIR)
TMO: Carlo Damasco (FIR)