Gold Coast coach John Cartwright expects to face a fired-up South Sydney after the NRL ladder-leader's shock loss to St George Illawarra on Monday.
The Rabbitohs were upset in golden point by rivals the Dragons and have a short turnaround before taking on the Titans at Skilled Park on Saturday.
Cartwright recalled State of Origin pair Nate Myles and Greg Bird on Tuesday after resting them from last weekend's clash against Manly while centre Brad Takairangi has also been named to play the Bunnies.
While the trio are big inclusions, Cartwright believes he'll need his best available personnel to overcome a hungry Souths outfit.
"(Souths) had their chances to win the game so I'd say they'd be smarting," Cartwright said.
"They're leading the comp and were up by 12 points with not long to go so I'm pretty sure they'll be made aware of where they were short and they'll come up here ready."
The Titans' desperation should also be high following their three heavy defeats on the spin after Sunday's loss to the Sea Eagles.
Those losses have dumped the Titans out of the top eight and down to 10th with a tough run-in looming.
Cartwright said his team must win their remaining three home matches to have any hope of making the finals.
"It's very frustrating," he said.
"The thing that it does come down to is confidence ... in combinations and each other.
"We're not making any excuses ... we're going to work hard on getting it right. One thing for sure is the Manly game was a much improved effort."
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