The Saints host the Pro 12 leaders at a sold-out Franklin's Gardens tomorrow evening in a match which has been highly anticipated on both sides of the Irish Sea. And with Ulster coming to town as the only unbeaten side in any of Europe's main three leagues Mallinder says that it will take a powerful and committed performance to beat them.
"Ulster have a strong winning habit this season and are coming to Franklin's Gardens in the best possible form," he commented. "Their squad is full of talented players who time and again this season have shown a never-say-die attitude and the ability to get the scores when they need them.
"It is going to be a massive challenge for us, we know that. But training has been very positive this week and we are coming into the game on the back of three successive wins ourselves.
"However all of the players know that they will have to take a step up from those performances and play for the full 80 minutes if we are to get the result we want."
NORTHAMPTON SAINTS TEAM TO PLAY ULSTER
Heineken Cup Round 3
Franklin's Gardens
Friday, December 7th, 2012
Kick off 8:00pm
15 Ben FODEN
14 Ken PISI
13 George PISI
12 Dom WALDOUCK
11 Jamie ELLIOTT
10 Ryan LAMB
9 Martin ROBERTS
1 Soane TONGA'UIHA
2 Dylan HARTLEY (capt)
3 Brian MUJATI
4 Samu MANOA
5 Courtney LAWES
6 Calum CLARK
7 Tom WOOD
8 GJ VAN VELZE
Replacements
16 Mike HAYWOOD
17 Alex WALLER
18 Paul DORAN JONES
19 Mark SORENSON
20 Phil DOWSON
21 Lee DICKSON
22 Stephen MYLER
