Harlequins back-rower James Chisholm was not looking for excuses after suffering defeat in Italy as he believes his side just weren’t up to scratch.

The London club suffered a heart-breaking last-minute defeat to Benetton in the Challenge Cup on Saturday and will look to bounce back quickly in the return fixture at the Stoop.

Alex Dombrandt's try in the first two minutes had put Quins in a good position from the start, but the Italians levelled soon after.

“We are our own worst enemy away from home and we have got to sort that out,” said Chisholm.

“We started really well with a try but it lulled us into a false sense of security and we kept letting them back in – it’s just not good enough.

“Fortunately, we get another shot at them at home next week and we will see what we can do.”

Dombrandt crossed again before the break before Luca Sperandio got his second for Benetton and the two sides continued to trade blows into the second-half.

Marcus Smith scored three penalties to bring the scores level at 21-21 with one minute left on the clock but it was his decision to kick that led to Monty Ioane gathering up the loose ball and dotting down to deliver the killer blow to Quins.

“There was still time for both teams to go for the win, so I don’t disagree with the option that we took but you’ve got to be better and a bit tighter. The option was absolutely fine in my opinion but we then have to react,” said Chisholm.

“He [Dombrandt] is playing fantastically well we are putting him in good position and he is a fantastic talent.

“It is easy to get negative we are all very disappointed especially me but we did some very good stuff and created a few things and the scrum as rewarded at time but ultimately we weren’t good enough.

“We have given ourselves a bit of a mountain to climb.”