Sale Sharks director of rugby Steve Diamond is aiming to end this season's European Rugby Champions Cup campaign on a high by picking up a victory at Munster this afternoon.

The Aviva Premiership outfit are without a win from their opening five Pool One fixtures, ensuring that they have little other than pride to play for heading into the final round of matches.

It is a similar story for Munster, who are still smarting from a 33-10 reverse at the hands of Saracens last time out which ended their own hopes of progression into the quarter-finals.

Despite this, Diamond is expecting an entertaining clash, telling reporters: "The side I've selected will give it its best crack. It's a good team and it's largely all English with a very youthful bench, but when do you get an opportunity like this?

"These lads will cram six months' worth of experience into the trip to Munster and for the whole club it should be a brilliant weekend. We're taking all our sponsors and there's a really good travelling support going over to Limerick as well and the pressure is not on us – it's all on them. It's only the second time in 17 years they have not reached the quarter-finals, so they will be hurting.

"There are no injuries for us but I've got to look after the squad because we've got London Welsh, Saracens, Bath and Leicester all coming up during the Six Nations so we want to pick up a couple of wins there to help us kick on in our bid to reach the top six."

Sale, who are currently sitting in eighth place in the Aviva Premiership, have made 12 changes in all from last weekend's defeatl against French giants Clermont Auvergne.