Penrith skipper Matt Moylan is confident of facing Canterbury next Thursday night despite leaving the field in the second half against Gold Coast with hamstring tightness.
Moylan pounced on a crucial pass from Ash Taylor midway through the second half to race 40 metres to the line, however pulled up sore and was forced to watch the remaining final minutes on the sidelines.
With a short five-day turnaround ahead for Anthony Griffin's side this week, the Panthers insist it was precautionary method to bring the 26-year-old from the field.
Halves partner Nathan Cleary stood up in Moylan's absence to set up a four-pointer for Dallin Watene-Zelezniak, before closing out the contest with a controlled kicking game from the boot.
"It's alright, just a bit tight but should be sweet," Moylan said of the hamstring injury.
"I just didn't want to risk doing too much to it and the coaching staff thought it was a good idea to come off."
Moylan missed last week's win with the Warriors due to the same injury concern and was seen hobbling in the opening half of the game before icing it prior to full-time.
"I reckon I'll be sweet [for the Bulldogs]," he said.
"It was just something I had to deal with. I knew it was a bit tight in the first half and just tried to manage it through."
Griffin was pleased with the side's effort in a gritty win against a spirited Titans outfit.
Penrith enjoyed 53 per cent of possession but were poor in the opening half with rushed plays in attack.
Their performance in the second half was much improved and went a long way towards victory on the back of an extra 500 metres in yardage.
"It wasn't pretty but that's just what it's like at this time of the year sometimes," Griffin said.
"Obviously there's two teams out there fighting over a valuable two points so at times it got messy. In the first half we were frantic and trying to find points but I thought in the second half we just settled down and got into a grind and executed our plays.
"We were just happy to build pressure and throw a good last play at them or go for a restart. It was just a lot more composed."
Meanwhile, Griffin said back-rower Bryce Cartwright was a chance to return against the Bulldogs after getting through the Penrith's Intrust Super Premiership clash earlier in the day.
"I'll have to go and have a look at the tape. I saw his first stint and he had high involvement. The most pleasing thing is he's coming off a very long layoff and got through the game," Griffin said.
"I just want to get his confidence and let him play, earlier in the year he was playing injured and everyone saw that. It's good that he's just fully fit and today was the first step for him."
