Alan O'Connor
POSITION: Lock
La Rochelle preparations
"Looking at our last game against them, we have a lot of confidence with what we did with the ball, as our discipline was good and whenever we kept the ball we put them under pressure through phases. Our maul was good when (Will) Skelton went off, so we will have a plan against them and look forward to the challenge."
Fixing mistakes
"It's frustrating. These games are hard and come around quickly, so we hope to limit those recent mistakes and not go into our shells."
"We have to go out and enjoy it, and approach things in a positive way. We are the same team we were a couple of months ago, we just need a big performance so why not this weekend?"
"We back ourselves no matter who we are playing. Why bother turning up if not? We need to have a winning mindset or else hang up our boots."
On La Rochelle's physical threat
"We struggled to get our maul going against their size in the last game. We took some learnings from it and will have a different plan. It wasn’t a good start to our Champions Cup campaign, but it's a big challenge away to La Rochelle, and let's make sure we go out all guns blazing."
"A good few of the guys who won in Clermont will be there, why not go to La Rochelle and win. Toulouse were champions last year, and we went and won, so why not there?"
On Marty Moore's injury layoff
"Marty has been class for us. A defensive leader and a cornerstone in our set pieces, but it’s a big opportunity for young guys to step in. We will rally around him and support him."
Michael Lowry
POSITION: Full-back
On difficult run
"It's a pretty new experience in terms of being on a losing streak, but I believe in the system and those around us. We’ve been outscoring teams on tries, and it's just a few key moments that are costing us. It's all about trust, as players we come in and don’t feel sorry for ourselves."
"Every team will go though a blip, you are not at the top all the time, so the question is how do we get back to where we were earlier in the season."
La Rochelle threat
"They are a big pack so we have to move the ball, try to nullify their kicking threats and bring our own strengths. We have to be ahead of the game and put pressure on them, but hopefully we have some chances on the counter attack. Winning away to the European champions would be a brilliant way to flip things."
Fan support
"Over social media you might see negativity and everyone is entitled to their opinion. I bumped into a lot of people while out doing my grocery shopping this week, and it was great to hear that a lot of people are in great spirits about the team. It was nice to hear them backing us because that’s what you want as a player. We want them to keep the faith in us and are working hard to change things around."
Ambitions
"The aim is to still challenge for silverware and be in the mix. We are fourth in the United rugby Championship with a game in hand, and we have a good run of homes coming up that we are really excited for. It feels like I haven’t played a home game in ages so I'm excited to play at home after La Rochelle!"
The Ulster men's next home fixture is the crucial final Heineken Champions Cup pool stage game against Sale Sharks on Saturday 21 January (kick-off 8pm). Tickets are available now at ulster.rugby/buytickets.