Gold Coast stand in skipper Preston Campbell has revealed the Titans are using being written off as finals no-hopers as motivation for defying their injury troubles to fight for a maiden appearance in the playoffs.

The Titans produced the finest victory in their short history with a 32-28 upset of pacesetters the Sydney Roosters at Sydney Football Stadium on Friday night to maintain their place in the NRL top eight.

The win came despite the Gold Coast's massive injury toll which includes co-captains Luke Bailey (foot) and Scott Prince (arm), Ashley Harrison (ribs), Mark Minichiello (ankle), Aaron Cannings (leg), Brett Delaney (groin) and Luke O'Dwyer (shoulder).

But disposing of the high flying Roosters is just the first step in a massive mountain to climb to the finals as the Titans play five of their last eight games on the road, including away clashes with front runners Melbourne, Brisbane and Manly.

Many expect the Gold Coast to struggle and fall out of contention, but Campbell says the Titans are determined to prove everyone wrong.

"You tell a team enough that they're going to lose it's going to fire us up," said Campbell.

"We were quietly confident coming down here.

"(Coach John Cartwright) just goes back to the fact that Bull's (Bailey) not going to be there, Princey's not going to be there and the players we've got on the field are the only ones that are going to be able to win the game.

"There are a lot of quality players we're missing but in saying that I never thought about it to be honest.

"We have that belief in the players that we have got."

The victory over the Roosters snapped a three-game losing streak for the Titans but more importantly it was their first win since losing halfback Prince for the season to a fractured forearm.

While Prince has been the dominant architect in attack, the Gold Coast were still able to create six tries against the Roosters.

Not only that, but they held the Roosters scoreless in the last half proving they have the attacking flair and defensive discipline to match it with the top sides.

"To be able to hold them to no points in the second half was really good. I definitely put it up there as being our best win since being at the club," he said.

"We scored the points, that wasn't a fluke. We went out with a plan and we stuck to it.

"We knew if we had the ball we would be able to score points, it was just a matter of holding them out.

"You look at our last few games we were in there against the Dragons and lost by four points and we were in there against Manly until the last 10 minutes.

"It was just a matter of playing 80 minutes."

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