Prolific try scoring winger Amos Roberts could miss the start of the Roosters' NRL finals campaign after suffering a shoulder injury in their 22-20 victory over South Sydney on Friday night.

Roberts, who has scored 12 tries this season, will undergo a scan and be checked out by club medical staff on Monday, but a Roosters' spokesperson said the winger was likely to be out for two to three weeks.

The Roosters should however, regain the services of another winger and their leading try scorer, Shaun Kenny-Dowall in the next two weeks.

New Zealander Kenny-Dowall, who has notched 15 tries this year, suffered a medial ligament knee injury against Parramatta three weeks ago.

He could return for next week's final round clash against the Dragons, but if not should be back on board for the Roosters first finals fixture.

New Roosters skipper Braith Anasta said it was not all "doom and gloom" for his stuttering side after their nervy 22-20 victory on Friday night and believes his new position as captain will bring out his best.

Beaten in their three previous matches, the Roosters consolidated fourth spot despite conceding the last 20 points of the game.

"It's definitely an improvement, it's a positive step for the team, it's not all doom and gloom," Anasta said.

"We've been pretty negative and hard on ourselves and everyone has been hard on us for the last few weeks and deservedly so.

"But we're still coming fourth and we win next week and we're top four, so it's not the end of the world, we're still in a good position."

Five-eighth Anasta led the side after coach Brad Fittler opted to relieve forward Craig Fitzgibbon of the leadership duties.

Fittler said he wanted Anasta and halves partner Mitchell Pearce to have greater input into the Roosters game plan and felt his decision was vindicated by the new skipper's performance last night.

"I thought he (Anasta) played very smart, exactly why I chose him and the reason that we changed it," Fittler said.

Anasta said it was hard taking over from "such an inspirational player and such a great leader and someone who has done so much for the club" but he couldn't afford to dwell on the situation.

"It's an honour for me, but I think it will bring out the best in me and I'll just try to lead from the front," Anasta said.

"It puts a little bit more pressure on you which is good."

Souths coach Jason Taylor believed the Roosters would need to improve in order to make the kind of impact they wanted to on the finals.

Fittler said he wasn't sure whether to be happy or cranky at the end of the game.

"It was awful, but I enjoyed it getting a pump like that, you don't get that every day," Fittler said.

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