Stephen Jones finds the going tough against a formidable Toulon side

Coach Nigel Davies launched a withering assault on the Scarlets after their 38-12 Amlin Challenge Cup quarter-final loss away to high-flying Toulon.

"For large parts of the game we just didn't turn up," he said. "It was one of our poorest shows of the season.

"To do that at such a crucial stage... in many ways it's unacceptable. We've gone through it with the players and made clear what we expect from them."

But Toulon's Jonny Wilkinson said the score "massively flattered" his side.

"[Scarlets fly-half] Stephen Jones put the ball through the posts time after time and they were there right to the end," said England fly-half Wilkinson.

"We had to be very precise and switched on... Llanelli could have been the team celebrating if a few things had gone their way."

The Scarlets were competitive for large parts of the game against a star-studded Toulon side who are second in the French league and unbeaten at the Stade Felix Mayol this season.

Only in the last 10 minutes did the money-laden outfit pull away as they brought the likes of Pierre Mignoni and Joe van Niekerk off the bench.

But Davies was unimpressed: "We were very disappointed in our performance," he told BBC Sport Wales.

"Obviously we lacked quite a lot in certain areas. In general terms this season I've been pleased with the way it's gone, but we didn't turn up on this occasion.

"[After what I have said to them] the players will come to training this week in the right frame of mind to push forward.

"We have to build ourselves up for a key run-in."

The Scarlets have three games left in the Magners League, all of them in Llanelli.

Wilkinson disagrees with Davies' assessment of the Scarlets

The run-in starts with a Welsh derby against the Blues on Saturday, followed by the visits of Connacht and Glasgow.

That is arguably the easiest run-in of any of the Welsh regions, but the Scarlets still look highly unlikely to climb above the Dragons, Blues or Ospreys.

The west Wales region are eight points behind the Blues, 10 away from the Dragons and 14 back from the Ospreys.

The bottom Welsh region is expected to enter the Amlin Challenge Cup rather than the Heineken Cup next season, although the unfortunate side could be thrown a lifeline.

Should the Blues win this season's Amlin competition Wales will gain an extra place in next year's Heineken tournament, meaning that all four regions will be entered.

"We haven't played at Parc y Scarlets for some time so it will be nice to get back and I can assure you that this group of players will be really focused," said Davies.

"The last three games were always going to be key fixtures. Our destiny is not completely in our control and we have to rely on others.

"All we can do is perform in those game and get the results.

"We are not in a state of panic. This is part of a normal process and we need to remain focused."

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