David Humphreys and Ulster coach Brian McLaughlin

Ulster Director of Rugby David Humphreys is happy with the Irish province being labelled as underdogs for their Heineken Cup quarter-final.

Ulster will travel to face Northampton in the last eight of the competition.

"Just because we've made the knockout stages for the first time in a very long while doesn't mean we're happy to settle for that," said Humphreys.

"There's a belief within our squad at the moment and we'll relish the opportunity ahead of us," he added.

The former Ulster and Ireland fly-half acknowledged that the Aviva Premiership high-flyers would provide formidable opposition.

"Northampton will certainly provide us with a big challenge - they've plenty of depth and they're not the number one seeds for nothing," conceded Humphreys.

"They were absolutely comprehensive in how they worked through the pool stages of the competition, coming up against quality teams in Castres, Cardiff and Edinburgh and maintaining a 100 per cent record with six wins from six.

We've recorded wins on the road in all competitions this season where perhaps people wouldn't have expected us to David Humphreys

"At this stage we're not sure if the game will be played at Franklin's Gardens or another bigger venue.

"They have a strong and proud home record at the Gardens but their supporters will make any trip for us a challenging prospect.

"Having said that, we've recorded wins on the road in all competitions this season where perhaps people wouldn't have expected us to."

Ulster's European Cup winning captain from 1999 added that the squad was still "enjoying our victory over Aironi and the fact that for the first time in 12 years we're going to be playing knockout rugby in Europe".

"There's a lot of rugby to be played between now and the quarter-finals in April.

"The players will have a week off now and when we re-group we'll turn our attentions to the Magners League.

"Traditionally we've struggled during the Six nations period and haven't responded well without our international players.

"We have two very tough away matches against Ospreys and Scarlets on the horizon and if we're to achieve our aim of a top four finish in the league, that's where our attention is going to be focused."

Ulster would face Perpignan or Toulon in the semi-finals if they were to beat Northampton.

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