Maxwell, who left Ulster for the Scottish club at the end of last season, scored a superb try for Edinburgh in Andy Robinson's side's victory over Llanelli at Murrayfield on Sunday.

It was his first touchdown for his new club and the 26-year-old is hoping to add to that tally against his former team-mates at Ravenhill on Friday night (kick-off 7.30pm).

Edinburgh's victory over Llanelli moved them up to mid-table, just six points off second-placed Scarlets. Ulster however could continue their climb up the table with another victory following the win in Connacht.

Maxwell said the key is to get on top early on to negate the Ravenhill factor.

"My perception of Edinburgh before I came was that they were a good, attacking side and one I would have loved to play in," said Maxwell. "That's one reason why I came here and my perception is no different now. They are a close team and the way we play is brilliant to be part of; it's really enjoyable.

"I'm looking forward to the game. Ulster don't have anything different to Edinburgh, in terms of players. The big factor there is letting the crowd get on top of the team, and the ref gets on Ulster's side.

"So we have to go out in the first 10-15 minutes and try to silence the crowd and dictate how we play the game. The teams they have played so far have outplayed them, as we did in Edinburgh, but they have got the base of players; it's a matter of the team clicking.

"The thing with Ulster is to get on top of them and play at your pace, and don't let them control the game, which they're good at. They won on Friday night and will be looking to get some momentum going now. It's a massive match for both teams."

Maxwell believes however that Edinburgh are ready to hit their potential having under-performed in recent weeks.

"The main focus on Sunday was to get winning and get Andy Robinson's first win under his belt," he added. "It's been frustrating because we've shown over the last few weeks how good a team we are.

"The focus last week was to be relaxed, play to our potential and just get the victory. I think we tried our best to lose it at stages, but, thankfully, we came back and won."

Meanwhile, Ulster caretaker coach Steve Williams has added five players to the 22-man squad that faced Connacht for Friday's Magners League game against Edinburgh. Williams has no fresh injury worries and will name his final line-up for the Ravenhill clash on Thursday.

David Humphreys remains out injured with an ankle problem while Justin Harrison over-looked and has been released to play for the Barbarians, who take on South Africa at Twickenham on Saturday.

Bryn Cunningham, Mark McCrea, Paul Marshall, Stuart Philpott and Tom Court come into the extended squad but Willliams is highly unlikely to tinker with a winning line-up.

" We will name the team tomorrow and everyone is in good shape," said Williams. "We have a few knocks but nothing that is going to stop anyone playing. After Bourgoin there was a large respect for each other in terms of what they did on the pitch and that was carried through to last Friday against Connacht.

"We weren't perfect by any stretch and we are well aware of our strengths and weaknesses last week but I felt we showed terrific character to come back after we went behind."

Ulster squad: Backs: M Bartholomeusz, B Cunningham, T Bowe, A Trimble, M McCrea, P Steinmetz, S Danielli, P Wallace, I Boss, P Marshall, K Campbell, N O'Connor, R Dewey. Forwards: J Fitzpatrick, R Best (c), N Brady, B Young, S Philpott, T Court, M McCullough, C del Fava, N Best, K Dawson, R Wilson, D Fitzpatrick, R Caldwell, D Pollock.