Harlequins 23 Wakefield Wildcats 16: We have no complaints at defeat accepts Wakefield's coach Kear

Clubb's brace came as Quins scored four tries in the first half before holding off a determined Wildcats fightback.

Wakefield coach John Kear admitted his side had come off second best.

He said: "I thought they were the better team. They starved us of the ball in the first half and we were chasing the game.

"The killer period was just before half-time and we had too much to do after the break.

"We lacked that little bit of composure when we had the ball and we can have no real complaints.

"It is a big blow to go out of the cup but we have to pick ourselves up and move on."

Rock-bottom Quins, with just one win to their name this campaign, produced a flowing first-half display and held on in the face of some second-half Wildcats pressure to move into the fifth round.

The hosts opened up a 10-point lead with some free-flowing rugby in the opening quarter of an hour.

Firstly, Ben Jones-Bishop stormed home after winger Will Sharp scorched down the wing and minutes later Clubb touched down after more good work from Jones-Bishop.

Wakefield clawed their way back by cashing in on some loose play from Quins – Chris Melling hesitating when dealing with a Paul Cooke grubber kick, allowing Damien Blanch to score.

And things were level on the half-hour when Danny Kirmond raced the length of the field after swooping on a loose home pass.

Harlequins ensured they went in ahead at the break with two further scores in the final three minutes. David Howell gave the Londoners the lead when he stretched out of a tackle to touch down, and Clubb added his second when he strolled through a huge gap created by Luke Dorn's excellent pass.

The Wildcats came out fighting after the interval and quickly got back into it when Luke George squeezed over in the corner. But despite plenty of pressure, and Dorn being sent to the sin-bin, Wakefield were unable to close the gap any further.

Having been on the back foot for much of the second half, Quins rallied near the end and after a spell of pressure, Luke Gale dropped a goal to secure victory.

Harlequins: Jones-Bishop, Melling, Clubb, Howell, Sharp, Gale, Randall, McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Orr, Ward, Williamson, Purdham, Bryan. Substitutes: Wilkes, Temata, Dorn, Esders.

Wakefield Trinity Wildcats: Murphy, Gleeson, Demetriou, George, Blanch, Cooke, Jeffries, Moore, Davey, King, Johnson, Ferguson, Kirmond. Substitutes: Millard, Obst, Korkidas, Gledhill.

Referee: P Bentham (Warrington).