With a horde of players injured there were plenty of excuses to explain Harlequins’ loss to Northampton Saints, but director of rugby John Kingston refused to use any of them.

All things considered, a 30-22 defeat is not a catastrophe given that Quins were missing 23 players, including England trio Mike Brown, Joe Marler and Chris Robshaw as well as captain James Horwill.

And with a quick turnaround before they face Sale Sharks at the Twickenham Stoop on Friday, Kingston will hope the home crowds can make up for absent squad members.

One such player could be British and Irish Lion Kyle Sinckler, who must appear before the RFU’s disciplinary panel today after being cited by the Independent Citing Commissioner Chris Catling for allegedly making with the eye and/or the eye area.

If found guilty, Sinckler could face a four-week or even 12-week suspension, depending on whether it is ruled that he actually made contact with Northampton Saints’ Michael Paterson’s eye.

The London side could have snatched the win against Saints in the dying stages, but were denied even a losing bonus point when Stephen Myler slotted a penalty in the 78th minute.

But Kingston did not seek any sympathy after Saturday’s loss, insisting his side could have done better despite the lack of experience among the matchday 23.

“It’s well-documented, the background with which we were coming into this game – 22 or 23 players unavailable – and the easiest thing in the world is then to say we got so close with a group where four players are making their debuts,” he said.

“But we’re aspiring to reach the top and if we’re aspiring to reach the top, we need to understand what we got wrong on the day.

“We didn’t take our chances. We gave away a couple of soft tries and defensively, at times, we were giving away penalties that weren’t necessary.

“In the end, it’s probably been the difference between us coming away with a win which I think was probably there for us.”