Former Wallabies captain James Horwill has called for Harlequins to use the remaining three games of the regular English Premiership season to begin rebuilding reputations.

Quins sit ninth in the table with a chastening 35-5 home rout by London Irish last Saturday bringing with it the news that director of rugby John Kingston is to step down at the end of the season, despite having signed a contract extension in January.

A trip to Gloucester offers the chance to begin clawing back some pride and Horwill, the club captain who returns to the starting XV after recovering from a neck injury, accepts the players owe Kingston an upbeat send-off.

“There is no doubt that performances have not been up where we needed them to be. We as a squad admit that,” the Queensland Super Rugby veteran said.

“John is a top bloke who genuinely loves the club, giving 17 years of service to this place. What has happened doesn’t sit well with us.

“Now we have to put in performances that both he and we can be proud of, that our fans can be proud of, and to finish off John’s time at the club on the right foot. We have a month of the season left and need to get some pride back into the shirt.”

Two clubs with play-off aspirations are also in action on Saturday as the battle for third and fourth reaches a critical phase.

With Exeter and Saracens – who both play on Sunday – set to claim home semi-finals, Leicester, Wasps, Newcastle and Sale are fighting for a place in the knockout phase with Gloucester on the periphery as long shots.

Leicester host Northampton in the East Midlands derby with Saints’ dismal campaign reaching a new low in the form of a record 63-13 home defeat last weekend, while their captain Dylan Hartley continues to be absent with concussion.

Tigers, meanwhile, have rocketed up the league through five successive wins and are lifted by the presence of Ben Youngs on the bench following the England scrum-half’s recovery from knee surgery.

“We’re getting some bodies back which enables us to pick from strength for the run-in and that is going to be important in such a tight competition,” Leicester head coach Matt O’Connor, who played one Test for the Wallabies in 1994, said.

“We’ve been on a decent run but that means nothing if we don’t back it up against a very committed Northampton side.”