Director of rugby Conor O’Shea has called for speculation over Chris Robshaw’s future in the England squad to stop.

The 30-year-old’s role as captain has increasingly come under the spotlight in the wake of England’s poor world cup showing with many sections of the media calling for the flanker to be dropped.

Stuart Lancaster resigned as head coach on Wednesday with many predicting a regime change would see the former Walringham RFC youngster – his country’s second most capped skipper – replaced.

The timing of the RFU’s announcement could not have been more awkward, coming minutes after Robshaw had been named on the bench for Quins’ European Challenge Cup opener against French club Montpellier last night.

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Former team-mate Ugo Monye has championed Robshaw as the best number seven in England as his place in the team has come under fire.

And O’Shea insists it is time for the rugby public and Quins fans to back the club’s talisman.

“Chris deserves our support. I could not be more annoyed with the way he has been treated,” he said.

“We have to manage our resources. The team for our game was picked three weeks ago, so blame the RFU for the coincidence.”

Lancaster’s exit has inevitably sparked a debate over his potential replacement, but O’Shea – a former RFU National Academy director – has said he is not interested in taking on the job.

“I don’t buy the idea English players are not good enough,” he added.

“There is a lot of brilliant and young English rugby players out there to choose from and whoever gets the job will be very lucky.”

He added: “England had a poor World Cup, let’s move on.”