Nigel Davies’s side are currently languishing in third place in Pool 4 after a home defeat to Harlequins and a hefty loss at Stade Francais. If the Scarlets stand any hope of making the knockout stages – and that’s a faint one at best – they must gain maximum points at Ravenhill to kick start their campaign.
“Friday’s game is a massive one for us. We’re not where we want to be in Europe at this stage but I don’t think it’s completely over for us,” explained Davies.
“If we can go to Belfast and get a result then that puts us in a position where we can look forward to two back-to-back home games.
“So, if we get a result in Belfast, then who knows? There’s no doubt we’ve got to put in a big performance on Friday; we’re a very proud team and we’re not going to hide from putting in that performance. We’ll fight all the way.”
His squad includes four Wales players fresh from beating Australia at the Millennium Stadium – Dafydd Jones, Mark Jones, Stephen Jones and Matthew Rees. Also back in the fold is new Wales scrum-half Martin Roberts and Wales full-back Morgan Stoddart.
Davies said: “It’s great to have them back. They’ve returned buoyed by last weekend’s success and they’re our most experienced, talented players so to have them all back in the group is brilliant. They’ve added a lot to everything we’ve done this week.”
Scarlets long-term injuries include Kees Meeuws, Gavin Thomas and Rob Higgitt, with shorter-term difficulties for stars such as Gavin Evans, Simon Maling and Darren Daniel.
Scott MacLeod was not considered for this weekend as he works to overcome a recent long lay-off.
Davies said: “We’ve not got much fully fit cover behind the scrum at the moment but we’ve still been able to put out a very team.”
Scarlets: 15 Morgan Stoddart. 14 Ceiron Thomas, 13 Regan King, 12 Jonathan Davies, 11 Mark Jones, 10 Stephen Jones, 9 Martin Roberts: 1 Iestyn Thomas, 2 Matthew Rees, 3 Deacon Manu, 4 Vernon Cooper, 5 Dominic Day, 6 Dafydd Jones, 7 Simon Easterby (capt), 8 David Lyons
Replacements – 16 Ken Owens, 17 Phil John, 18 Nathan Thomas, 19 Johnathan Edwards, 20 Gavin Cattle, 21 Rhys Priestland, 22 Lee Williams.
