Canterbury are fearing a Gold Coast ambush on the holiday strip, saying they wouldn’t be surprised to see injured duo Scott Prince and former Bulldogs star Jamal Idris rushed back for Sunday’s NRL encounter.

Neither Prince (biceps) nor Idris (hamstring) was named to face the Bulldogs at Skilled Park, but whispers the pair could be late inclusions had reached Belmore ahead of Wednesday’s training session.

Asked if it was disappointing to miss out on the opportunity to go head-to-head with his former teammate, Bulldogs centre Josh Morris said of Idris:

“It is, but he might want to really play and get back on the field.

“We might do a little bit of work on Jamal just in case he’s there.

“I know Jamal – knowing him, he’ll want to get out there and play against all his old mates – it will be good if he does.”

Idris hasn’t played since the round-two loss to Canberra, with the Titans losing their following two games to have just one win from the opening four rounds.

Prince suffered a minor muscle tear against the Warriors on Saturday night that he originally thought was a cork, but its relative minor nature has raised hope he could be declared a starter.

Bulldogs assistant coach Jim Dymock said the Bulldogs could not afford to get too bogged down in who might run out for the opposition.

“If (Idris) plays, he plays, if Prince plays, he plays – you don’t know who could come out of the woodwork,” Dymock said.

“Who knows? (Mat) Rogers could come out of the woodwork.”

The Bulldogs have their own player availability issues, with halfback Trent Hodkinson ruled out for up to six weeks with a strained medial ligament – his absence opening up a spot for Kris Keating to play his first NRL game of 2012.

Dymock said little would change with the switch in playmaker.

“Not at all. He (Keating) trained there all pre-season. Hodko only trained the last four weeks of pre-season,” Dymock said.

“Kris is champing at the bit to play that position.

“The last four games of the NSW Cup, they’re undefeated. He’s put in some good performances there, he comes in and we shouldn’t skip a beat.

“Once you get that chance, you can’t miss that opportunity.

“(Keating) knows for himself he didn’t get that opportunity at the beginning of the year. He’s getting that opportunity now.”