Ulster boss Dan McFarland is targeting a top-two finish in the BKT United Rugby Championship following their bonus-point victory away to Cardiff on Saturday.
McFarland's men are currently third in the table, five points behind reigning champions the DHL Stormers, but their last three games are all at home whereas the Stormers have to travel to unbeaten league leaders Leinster in the next round.
Finishing in the top two is all-important as it would secure home advantage through to the semi-finals of the URC play-offs.
"We are in a battle at the top of the league," said McFarland. "It was a weekend where the teams around us in the table had home games and were putting up bonus-point wins. It was important we got a result and I thought the lads played well.
"Our target is the Stormers. We want to finish second. I know that’s not in our control, we are obviously reliant on other results, but that has to be our aim.
"To have a chance of achieving that, we are going to have to win our last three games. That’s going to be really tough, but that’s the objective. The top two has to be the target.
"Getting home ties in the play-offs is important. We understand that. Not having a home semi-final was a big difference last season. We know we can win away from home, but we would much rather be playing in front of our fans."
Ulster's three remaining regular season fixtures will be in front of those fans as they entertain Vodacom Bulls (25 March, live on RTÉ), Dragons (14 April) and Edinburgh (21 April).
"It’s nice to have three home games definitely. We love playing at Ravenhill but the bottom line is the next team that comes are the Bulls," said McFarland.
"We know what they can do in Ireland when they are on form. They lost at home to the Lions this weekend, so they are going to be smarting. They will come fully loaded. We know that’s going to be a tremendous challenge.
"Everybody is fighting for something in this league. That’s why it’s such an exciting league to be involved in."
Ulster scored six tries against Cardiff including a first competitive touchdown since 2021 for Ireland wing Jacob Stockdale, who produced a classy chip-and-chase finish.
McFarland commented: "Jacob demonstrated in attack what he is capable of. His running was really good and he was good under the high ball. As for his try, there are not many players that can do that kind of thing.
"He is such a dangerous threat in attack and it was really good to see him on fire there. It was nice to see him back running with the ball and beating defenders."
Giving his verdict on the match, Cardiff Rugby’s director of rugby Dai Young said: "We saw tonight what a top three side looks like. To be honest, I thought they were better than us in most areas. They were full of size, power and pace and we just couldn’t handle it."
It was a clean sweep for the Irish sides over the weekend, with Munster defeating the Scarlets 49-42 in a 13-try thriller, Leinster making it 15 wins out of 15 by triumphing 47-27 away to Edinburgh and Connacht beating the Dragons 22-20 at Rodney Parade.
