The Gallagher Premiership champions have only reached the knockout stages of Europe’s elite rugby competition three times in 15 attempts but have a great chance of improving that poor record after notching their second win in two Pool B games last Saturday.

However, Matson knows they will have to better their display in their 43-17 home win over a below-strength Cardiff Rugby line-up in Round 2 if they are to reach the business end of the competition for the first time since 2012-13, having been held 17-17 at half-time.

“You wouldn’t have thought it in the first half, but the team really has got high expectations about pushing into the second stage of the competition, so we can only control what we can control,” he said.

“The Heineken Champions Cup, we haven’t gone long in for a long time, so it’s good to be in a position to push a bit further.”

Scrum-half Danny Care admitted that Quins had been below par in the first half – but was quick to pay tribute to Cardiff.

“It was a hell of a contest,” he said. “They’re always tough, those games, where everyone expects you’re going to go out and win, and you should win comfortably.”

The 34-year-old England international pointed out that Quins had been made to work very hard for their bonus-point win – in which they crossed the line six times.

But like his boss, he acknowledged that performances will need to improve if Quins have a genuine desire to lift the trophy.

“We’re two from two – we haven’t been perfect yet and we know we’ve got to play a lot better than that if we want to progress in this competition,” he added.

Harlequins senior coach Tabai Matson has warned his team that they will need to back up their expectations with performances if they are to progress in the Heineken Champions Cup.