Harlequins boss Conor O'Shea praised his side's effort after their loss against Saracens in Aviva Premiership semi-final, but admitted they were playing against a better side, writes Jamie Stinson.

Saracens scored 20 unanswered points in the second half to defeat Quins, and will meet Northampton Saints in the final in a fortnight's time.

O'Shea backed his side's performance after the disappointing defeat, against the team which topped the Premiership table.

He said: "I am unbelievably proud of our guys, the way the fought out there.

"They're down, as they should be and you expect them to be. But we'll dust ourselves down and be back next season."

However, the Quins' director of rugby admitted they came up against "an outstanding side."

He said: "They're worthy finalists, worthy winners. I thought we were outstanding for 40 or 50 minutes today. They are an outstanding side and deserved to win."

Harlequins' Ugo Monye scores a try against Saracens

This is the second time the two teams have met in the last two months, with Harlequins he previously meeting 39-17 at Wembley, in front of just under 84,000 people.

This is the second season in a row Quins have been knocked out at semi-final stage of the Aviva Premiership, having won the title two years ago.

The Stoop side only got into the semi-finals after they beat Bath last weekend, to see them overtake the west country team into fourth place.

However, despite this O'Shea said the side still wanted silverware.

"We've been successful the last three years, it's been a huge disappointment not to get something this year,” he said. “But if you give yourself enough opportunities, you'll win."

The director of rugby praised the Quins' supporters who made the trip to Allianz Park, and for all their help this season.

He added: "I thought our supporters were absolutely unbelievable today.

“They've really carried this team through and I think that's why there's a huge disappointment.

"You want to give them the showpiece day. We'll be back next year, playing our way and hopefully get ourselves back into that final."