They will return to the GUINNESS PRO12 - where they currently sit 11th in the table - next Saturday against the Ospreys, knowing they can leapfrog their Welsh rivals with a win.
And after what he felt was a really disappointing display, Wilson has demanded better from his players.
"We've got a huge amount of work to do. All we can do it keep working and keep banging away at it and chip away to get an improvement in performance," he told the Cardiff Blues website.
"There is nothing like a derby to raise the motivation. We have a couple of days now to recover and then we build into a big week before Ospreys.
"We have spoken in no uncertain terms after the game that we need to improve from our efforts against Harlequins to give ourselves a chance of getting anything in an away derby."
Cardiff could be without flanker Ellis Jenkins, who was forced off in the second half of the game, with skipper Sam Warburton having pulled out before kick-off.
It was a major blow for the Welsh side, with Jenkins one of the star performers for the Blues in the early part of the season.
However Wilson refused to blame the loss on those absences, with Quins having also lost two back-rowers to injury early on.
"His first 20-minute involvement in the game was positive for us. He caused problems for them with turnovers," added Wilson.
"Losing Ellis after losing Sam Warburton before the game to illness, two influential back rows, left us for the rest of the game without a seven.
"But I'm not complaining because they (Harlequins) were in the same boat as us, they lost players early on too. It's not an excuse, but it's a shame for Ellis."
To buy tickets for the GUINNESS PRO12 Grand Final click here. Also follow us on Facebook, join the conversation on Twitter, sign up to our YouTube channel for extensive match highlights and sign up for our newsletter for regular updates on the GUINNESS PRO12
63x46.png){kind=logo}