Danny Care believes his Quins side aren’t far away from competing with the big hitters of the game.

Speaking after their 25-20 defeat at the hands of Saracens at The Stoop, the England international says there are ‘lots of positives’ to take from their performance.

"Obviously it was disappointing to lose a game like that but you look at what Sarries have done to other teams this year and how much they've dominated.

"I felt we were dominant for most part of that game and it just shows that to beat the best you have to be on it for 80 minutes.

"We seem to always raise it for our home game against them, it's probably down to the level of respect we have for them that you have to be on it. That's been the challenge for us over the last couple of seasons, and especially this year we need to get that consistency right and have that level of performance every week.

"If we play like that, we'll win more games than we'll lose in this league."

Care believes that Quins have improved on last year and that’s thanks to the man in his first year at the helm, Paul Gustard. Saturday’s showing displayed a ferocity in defence that had not been shown by the west London outfit before, and rightly gained plaudits for their efforts.

“We’ve got one of the best defensive coaches in the world as our head-coach so he knows what he’s talking about. It’s something we’ve worked on."

The Saracens game was a landmark day for the 31-year-old as he made his 250th appearance for the club, on the same day Mike Brown made his 300th. It’s a day he will not forget but insisted there is more to come.

"We always say you're lucky to play one game for this club, so I'm very proud to have played 250 times and it was a nice moment running out with my son.

"Obviously the result didn't go the way we wanted it to but I think I'll look back on that and be very proud.

"I feel sharp, I still feel like there's some miles in the tank still to go. I'm loving my rugby and really enjoying this season, we're not far off that's the positive thing."

Harlequins sit sixth in the Gallagher Premiership but will now shift their focus to the European Rugby Challenge Cup as they welcome Agen to The Stoop next Saturday.