Delaney's Nottingham side have won their last five games

Nottingham director of rugby Glenn Delaney insists he will not play an under-strength side in Friday's British & Irish Cup tie against Munster.

But Delaney says he must consider their heavy fixture list, after a spate of call-offs because of the cold weather.

"I'll field a strong side," Delaney told BBC Radio Nottingham on the eve of the Meadow Lane meeting.

"But we've got another game four days later [at Esher] so we will pick the best teams we can for both games."

Previous years have seen just the top team from each of the four groups progress into a semi-final, but this year the competition has been opened out to a quarter-final stage, allowing the top two to advance.

Nottingham won their opening Pool B fixture, beating Bristol 37-23 in December.

Delaney added: "Winning this weekend will be important to maintain this competition. There's the chance of winning a trophy so that's what we focus on.

"We played them last year at Waterford on their home patch and their fans really got behind them so I'll be expecting our fans to do the same.

"Munster have a very proud record in Europe and they will be coming here to win. It will be a tough game, but they are coming to our patch so we want to make sure we perform for our people."

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