GOLD Coast's stand-in skipper, Preston Campbell, has revealed the Titans are using the "written off as finals no-hopers" tag as motivation to defy their injury troubles and fight for a maiden appearance in the play-offs.

The Titans produced the finest victory of their short history with a 32-28 upset of the pace-setting 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), Scott Prince (arm), Ashley Harrison (ribs), Mark Minichiello (ankle), Aaron Cannings (leg), Brett Delaney (groin) and Luke O'Dwyer (shoulder).

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

Many expect the Gold Coast to struggle and drop 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," he said. "We were quietly confident coming down here [to Sydney].

"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 we've 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 after half-time, 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," Campbell said. "I definitely put it up there as being our best win since being at the club.

"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."