Harlequins director of rugby Conor O'Shea has admitted that his side need to improve further following their defeat to Northampton Saints at Twickenham.

The Saints returned to the top of the Aviva Premiership courtesy of a thrilling 30-25 victory in front of 82,000 fans on Saturday afternoon, despite Quins enjoying 75% possession and doing most of the attacking.

While he was unhappy with a number of errors during the match, O'Shea believes that the overall performance was an improvement from his side.

"There is a huge amount of frustration as we didn't get the breaks. There are loads we have to work on but very little went our way," O'Shea told reporters.

"We gave away a couple of needless penalties and the charge down just after time, which saw them score was crucial.

"If we play like that we will beat a lot of sides. I'm happier with that performance as it's a step forward and I believe we've turned a corner. We've a long road ahead though to get back up the Premiership table."

Harlequins are now eighth in the Premiership table and face London Welsh next Sunday in their first match of 2015.