No wonder Conor O’Shea was pleased to see Ollie Lindsay-Hague on the scoresheet on Saturday with Quins set to lose winger Ugo Monye to injury for three months.

The 31-year-old British & Irish Lion hurt himself twisting to score the opening try in the 20-15 win over London Irish at Twickenham.

Lindsay-Hague, himself plagued by injuries last term, came off the bench to replace him and scored what proved to be the decisive try. – to the relief of O’Shea.

“Ugo twisted something off his groin that he shouldn’t have done in the process of scoring. It looked awkward,” said the Stoop chief.

“He will see a surgeon this week. It is certainly not a short-term problem.”

He added: “I was delighted to see Ollie get on and make the impact he did. He can step round people in a phonebox.

“We have competition for places with people like Ollie, Tommy Williams, Ross Chisholm and Charlie Walker all pushing got a place.

“It is not like last year where we had a long list of injuries. We’ve got five injured out of a 46 man squad so we are in a good place.”

Quins host Saracens, last minute winners over Wasps on Saturday, tonight in a mouthwatering match-up.

The north Londoners have won more regular season Premiership games than anyone else over the past three seasons, while Quins lie second in that list.

O’Shea’s men, who lost to Sarries in last season’s semi-finals, have not beaten their rivals since 2012 – the year they lifted the title themselves.

And, while the Stoop chief admits the match will decide nothing come the end of the season, it is one his side would dearly love to win.

“It is going to be a long season with ups and downs,” he added.

“The first half on Saturday was as well as we have played for a long, long time and we are going to need that level of performance for 80 minutes on Friday.

“We want to get back in the final on May 30 and win our title back and our work ethic at the weekend told you a lot about where this team is heading.”