Craig Ronaldson returns from injury to start at inside centre while John Cooney will play at outhalf for the first time in his career. The scrumhalf position is filled by the returning Irish international Kieran Marmion.

Up front, Lewis Stevenson comes in to start in the second row, having made ten appearances from the bench this season. The back row sees the return of captain John Muldoon, who missed out through injury last week, while his fellow Galway-man Eoin McKeon is named at openside flanker.

“We’re excited by the challenge that the Champion Cup presents to us and the opportunity to qualify for the last eight of the competition,” Pat Lam said.

“First up, we have a big game against Zebre tomorrow and are fully focused on putting in a performance to get us the points we need.

“Zebre are determined to get their first win in Europe and we know what they are capable of on their day. We have the advantage of being at home in front of our supporters so it’s up to us to ensure we get the job done.”

Your Connacht team to face @ZebreRugby at the Sportsground tomorrow (1pm) in round 5 of the @ChampionsCup #BeThere - https://t.co/rtrbXnI6yV pic.twitter.com/3j7CyJFkSW

— Connacht Rugby (@connachtrugby) January 13, 2017

Connacht v Zebre at the Sportsground on Saturday January 14 kick off 1pm.

Connacht team: 15 Tiernan O’Halloran, 14 Niyi Adeolokun. 13 Rory Parata, 12 Craig Ronaldson, 11 Matt Healy, 10 John Cooney, 9 Kieran Marmion; 1 Denis Buckley, 2 Tom McCartney, 3 Finlay Bealham, 4 Lewis Stevenson, 5 James Cannon, 6 Sean O’Brien, 7 Eoin McKeon, 8 John Muldoon - capt.

Replacements: 16 Dave Heffernan, 17 JP Cooney, 18 John Andress, 19 James Connolly, 20 Naulia Dawai, 21 Caolin Blade, 22 Tom Farrell, 23 Danie Poolman.