Former Ireland Under-20 head coach Murphy, who was given the Ulster job in May following an interim spell in charge, has presided over an up-and-down start to the campaign with an opening URC win over Glasgow followed by back-to-back defeats by the Lions and Bulls.

Despite a couple of negative results in South Africa, Murphy says the squad is in “good spirits” ahead of a testing encounter against a Connacht side who secured impressive wins over the Sharks and Scarlets after a thrilling 35-33 loss to Munster.

“We’re coming home to the Kingspan where all the lads really love playing,” said Murphy, who will welcome centre Jude Postlethwaite back into the fold after he was released from Emerging Ireland duty earlier this week.

“It’s a big day and they know that. Connacht are riding high. Although they lost their first game, they got a lot of confidence out of that.

“They still managed to give Munster the opportunity to win the game, which they did, they went away and beat Sharks at home and beat Scarlets away, played really well although they did give Scarlets a chance to win that game.

“They’re confident, we can see that with the way they’re speaking. We’re concentrating on ourselves and trying to look after our performance which will hopefully lead to a positive result.”