Leicester Tigers head coach Richard Cockerill has warned fans not to expect his side to look like "championship material" so early in the season.

The defending Guinness Premiership champions ground out an attritional, yet crucial, 15-9 win at Harlequins on Saturday.

Following a 15-12 defeat at Sale on the opening day, Tigers have failed to score a try in 160 minutes of rugby.

Cockerill is not bothered though, and believes it will take time for Tigers to build up the sort of momentum that saw them reach both domestic and European finals last season.

"People saw us finish the season last year and some of them expect us to repeat that form straight away," he said.

"It is not about being championship material in September. You grind points out.

"Admittedly, it's not entertaining but, away from home, it is not our job to entertain.

"At places like Harlequins, the result was the key thing for us and we will take the points."

The nature of Tigers' win at The Stoop was far from pretty as new fly-half Jeremy Staunton kicked five penalties to opposite number Nick Evans' three.

It was a big win though. With a trip to Bath awaiting in a fortnight, Tigers could not wish for a tougher start to the season on their travels.

"Last year we won five away games all season and we have one already," said Cockerill.

"Harlequins will turn teams over at The Stoop this season because it is a very hard place to go to.

"We got a point at Sale and four more at The Stoop. They will count massively for us at the end of the year and we have home games in the bank."

With fly-half Sam Vesty out until October and fellow No.10 Toby Flood unlikely to have recovered from a ruptured Achilles until the start of November, new signing Staunton is set to continue at fly-half for the foreseeable future.

Cockerill believes the former Wasps player is doing a good job, especially with fellow new boy Anthony Allen getting used to unfamiliar surroundings at inside-centre.

"Jeremy is a very different player to Sam and Toby and he and Anthony are new to the club," he said.

"It takes time to bed in. Jeremy and Anthony are both working hard and trying to fit into a system that is different from where they came from. We haven't scored any tries yet but any side that loses the players we have is not going to be as fluid as we would like to be."

Tigers picked up plenty more injuries during the win at Harlequins but only Ben Woods' suspected broken foot is likely to be long-term.

George Chuter suffered a mild groin problem while Jordan Crane, Geordan Murphy, Harry Ellis and Mefin Davies all had cuts that required stitches.

Aaron Mauger played 20 minutes as a substitute on his latest comeback from a back injury and Cockerill said he expected Vesty to be fit in three weeks' time after a hamstring tear.

Tigers' Premiership game at London Irish has been rearranged and will be shown live on Sky Sports. Originally scheduled for Sunday, October 25, the match will now take place on Saturday, October 24 at the Madejski Stadium (3.15pm).