NICK EASTER has ordered his Harlequins team-mates to pick themselves off the floor and seal a home tie in the Heineken Cup quarter-finals this weekend.

Despite Saturday's 21-10 defeat in Ulster, Quins have qualified as group winners after Stade Francais went down to a surprise defeat to Llanelli Scarlets.

Beating the Scarlets, who Quins over-turned 29-22 away in October, convincingly this Saturday would see Quins guaranteed a home tie in the last eight.

The way the other groups are shaping up, it would most likely be Munster, and Easter is keen to avoid a return to Ireland to soon.

He said: "Getting them at home would certainly be a better draw for us.

"But all we can do is get the win first this weekend, and perhaps get a bonus point to ensure we get a home tie in the next round."

Quins certainly made the game harder for themselves in Belfast by conceding a try from a set-piece in the first minute and giving away cheap penalties which saw them 16-0 behind at the break.

Easter took his share of the blame for the Ulster defeat, but insists Quins fans shouldn't be too down in the mouth about it.

He said: "People shouldn't read too much into it. The conditions were so awful, bitterly cold, and I thought we adapted well.

"I thought we were timing our charge at the right time.

"But we were forced to make a change at a crucial time and denied what would have been a deserved bonus point in attempt to go for the win with a late charge-down that gave them a second try.

"I know that I was responsible for one of the penalties, and I wasn't happy with my discipline.

"But we would have won had Nick Evans had been allowed to nail that penalty before going off.

"But we've drawn a line under that game now, and need to concentrate all our efforts into our final pool game."

Beating Llanelli would be the perfect send off for Easter before joining up with the England squad for their Six Nations preparations.

Also missing the crucial home game against Northampton the following week will be scrum-half Danny Care and winger Ugo Monye.

But Easter is confident those remaining can make light of their absence.

He said: "We've built up a very useful squad now, and I'm sure the rest of the guys will step up to the plate and show what they can do, as they have before.

"However, we have many other players in the Saxons, some of which may still get called up into the full squad depending on injuries.

"England haven't done too well in recent years in the Six Nations, and despite what a lot of people thought about our performances in the autumn internationals we think that we can prove a point or two this season."