Harlequins director of rugby Dean Richards played down the importance of his side moving to the top of the table.
Worcester boss insists his side's destiny is in their own hands
Harlequins director of rugby Dean Richards believes his side's move to the top of the table is "irrelevant" with three tough games still to go.
A 60-14 hammering of struggling Worcester on Wednesday night saw Quins take over at the Guinness Premiership summit on points difference.
Nick Easter helped himself to a hat-trick while England team-mates Ugo Monye and Danny Care also touched down at the Twickenham Stoop.
Despite the comprehensive success Richards insists he will only be satisfied once his side has sealed a place in the top four.
Tough games
"Being top is irrelevent when we have three tough games to go," said Richards. "If we are in the top four at the end of the season then I will be happy.
"We have still got to go away to Sale, Bath are Heineken Cup quarter-finalists and Newcastle are not the pushovers they were six months ago.
"All these England boys are coming back to us now and they are desperate to play. They don't want to be on the bench. There is a real ambition to achieve something this year. The side has matured a long way from last year.
"If you are saying first is great, it is not. You achieve nothing with three games to go."
Quins led 19-7 at the break before dominating the second half, securing the bonus point after just 47 minutes as they managed 10 tries.
"The challenge was not to become complacent and we felt we were a little bit complacent in the first half and that is where your patience and precision come in," he added.
Facing the prospect of three games in six days, Worcester director of rugby Mike Ruddock awarded five full league debuts for the midweek fixture.
They did manage to score through winger Charlie Fellows and prop Shaun Ruwers but were blown away late on, conceding five tries in the last 20 minutes.
Ruddock admits the Warriors are now looking over their shoulder with just a nine-point gap between themselves and bottom club Bristol.
Competitive
"I know we had a young team with five debutants and a lack of cohesion but our average penalty count has been 10.4 per game this season and tonight we conceded 24 full penalties and two free kicks," he said.
"We also had two yellow cards so spent a quarter of the game without a full back row. Quins are a quality team and you can't keep defending against them.
"It is very difficult for us to front up three times in six days and we are looking over our shoulder. Bristol are a fine team and they are starting to play well now - but it is in our hands.
"We have to be very competitive on Saturday but it will be difficult because we haven't been able to train this week."
