​Ulster open their URC campaign at home to Edinburgh on Friday [Getty Images]Ulster’s Jack Murphy says turning the Affidea Stadium into a “fortress” can help them reach their season’s goals.Last term, Richie Murphy’s side won five of their nine home games in the United Rugby Championship [URC], while going five wins from five in Europe’s Challenge Cup before losing in the final against Montpellier in Bilbao.Those dropped points in the league, which included a draw against the Stormers in their penultimate game, would come back to bite as they found themselves two points adrift of the URC play-off places and a spot in this year’s Investec Champions Cup.Maximising points at home is therefore imperative if they are to improve upon what began as a promising campaign last season.”When I was a young guy, everyone was calling Ulster this fortress,” the 22-year-old out-half told BBC Sport NI.”There are grounds you go to in Europe and the URC that are very tough to play in, so we want Ravenhill to feel like that.”We want to improve on where we got to last year. We weren’t happy with where we finished in the league and were bitterly disappointed with how Europe ended.”Turning our home games where we can win will make it easier to reach our goals.”Ulster kick-off the new URC campaign at home on Friday [19:45 BST] against Edinburgh who finished a disappointing 12th last season.Sean Everitt has brought in new faces to his coaching team at Hive Stadium, but Murphy is expecting a typically tough challenge from the Scottish side.”They’ve got a lot of threats across their team and some really good players,” he noted.”Our main focus on Friday is on ourselves and how we can impose ourselves on the game. We know they will be physical and bring a lot of intensity, so we’ve got to be ready.”It’s a really competitive league and probably got more competitive last season. Everybody is playing at a high level, every game is a battle. You have to keep going as it’s relentless, week on week.”We are going to try to start well on Friday and see where that gets us.”