IT was terribly disappointing for us to lose our match against Harlequins - a game we really thought we could win.

It was very disappointing for both the players and fans, who turned up en masse to support us.

We want to put it behind us now and the good thing is we have a chance to make amends for it straight away with Sunday's trip to New-castle.

We must improve in a lot of areas and we are fully focused to do that. We need to be more clinical and play with more control.

Against Harlequins, we made a few little mistakes and we were punished heavily each time. On the whole, our defence was very good but we made two errors and they cost us tries both times. The margins for error can be very small at this level.

What was frustrating in that game was the conditions because they made it very difficult for us after we went behind.

We had to play catch-up because we were chasing the game and the conditions made it very difficult to play that type of rugby.

However, Loki Crichton came off the bench to score a superb try, which got us a bonus point out of the game. That took us off the bottom of the table and that is a step forward.

It was still very difficult to apprreciate that after the match, though, because every single one of us was gutted to have lost the game.

It was tough because emotions were running high after losing to Quins but, on reflection, the league table looks a lot better now we are not at the bottom.

Bringing Loki and Jonny Arr on freshened us up a bit. When you are on the bench, it is easier to see the areas that can be improved.

Some fans criticised Matt Powell but he has been a superb player for our club over the last three years and there is no-one in our squad who works harder than him. He is in every day working on his passing and other things and looking at elements of his game.

He will come good and I'm sure it won't be long before that happens - he will be a massively important player for us.

Traditionally we have been strong up front and every team who come to Sixways are prepared for a forward battle. However, that means we always have to be on top of our game or we will come up short against our opponents.

We do not have a divine right to dominate other teams and if we are not right on top of our game the opposition can do well and that happened with Quins.

Matt Mullan has been one of the finds of the season. He has a fantastic attitude and works hard. He is certainly someone who will make it in the game.

As with most teams in the Guinness Premiership, you look at Newcastle's line-up and there are a string of world-class players.

They have got Kiwi prop Carl Hayman, but the likes of Matt Mullan or Darren Morris would not be afraid of packing down with him.

Whoever plays at prop for us on Sunday, they will be looking forward to the game and relishing the challenge.