A determined Jamie Noon has urged his Newcastle Falcons team-mates to win their remaining three games so that this season's Heineken Cup adventure is not a one-off.

The Falcons crashed out of Europe's leading club competition on Saturday after a resounding 48-8 defeat at the hands of Stade Francais and, with less than a month of the Zurich Premiership to go, face an uphill battle to qualify for the competition again next year.

Newcastle are currently seventh in the table and, while the number of automatic places depend on who does what in the cups, dropping any further could see them miss out on the wildcard play-offs for the final European spot.

Lowly Worcester visit Kingston Park on Sunday in a game that is likely to mark Jonny Wilkinson's latest return to action, before the Falcons round off their campaign with a trip to Northampton and a home game with London Irish.

Rob Andrew's side were understandably downbeat as they trudged from the Parc des Princes but, rather than licking their wounds, Noon is desperate to see his team-mates use Saturday's game as the springboard for more European success.

"We've been taught a lesson here," said the England international, who captained Newcastle for the third time in Paris. "But we haven't got to forget that we've got to the quarter-finals of the Heineken Cup for the first time ever.

"We want to make sure that the club goes further forward. That means being in the Heineken Cup and getting to this sort of occasion every year.

"Stade have been here for the last six seasons and, as a result, their club is a bit more confident of going further.

"Worcester at home is now crucial. We need to make sure that we're here again and competing at this sort of level in years to come."

Noon took over the captain's armband in the absence of both Wilkinson and Ian Peel and, with Wales international Colin Charvis also unavailable through injury, the Falcons were without some of the most experienced stars.

Their lack of know-how was brutally exposed by a Stade Francais side who have made the last eight of the Heineken Cup in each of the last five years, but Noon is confident some of the club's younger players will have become better for the experience.

"We had a 19-year-old prop out there (David Wilson) and he's going to learn an awful lot," said the centre. "He'll mature physically and mentally and we need to make sure we make the most of guys like that.

"The guys would love to play in this sort of occasion and in this sort of arena again, but it's going to take a little bit of time.

"Something like that is a bit of a shell-shock. We were taught a lesson and it was a bit like men against boys at the end.

"Everything was equal when we kicked off, but they ended up giving us a bit of a lesson about how to play the game."

Noon was unable to repeat the form that saw him run in three tries during England's recent Six Nations win over the Scots but, with the British Lions squad due to be announced next Monday, there is still an outside chance of him being a surprise addition.

"I haven't thought about the Lions at all," he said. "I've been focusing on the job ahead and trying to stay in the England team is my main goal.

"That process is still not over. There are some quality players coming back and some excellent young players trying to take over from me.

"My goal is to stick it out with England. I don't want to be a flash in the pan and I want to show what I can do."