Perth Scorchers captain Marcus North insists a home Twenty20 Big Bash League semi-final will be an enormous advantage for his team.
The Scorchers booked a home semi despite a one-run loss to the Sydney Sixers at the SCG on Wednesday.
North, who was unaware of what his side needed to seal a home semi-final when they went out to bat, said playing in front of their home fans at the WACA would be a massive advantage.
"(It's a) huge key for us - absolutely. We've had great support in the west, we've had two sell outs in our last two games and we'll no doubt sell out again this weekend," North said.
"I think our side is beautifully balanced to play at the WACA and I think we've shown that we're a very hard team to beat now at the WACA in the last couple of games we've played there."
The table-topping side will meet the Brisbane Heat, the Melbourne Stars or the Adelaide Strikers, depending on the result of the clash between the latter two on Thursday.
After being set 177 for victory, the Scorchers fell just short despite North's 59 and handy contributions from the lower order.
Needing three runs off the last ball to win, North was run out as he came back for a second after Nathan Coulter-Nile had hit a straight drive.
The Scorchers will regain star batsman Herschelle Gibbs and paceman Nathan Rimmington for the semi-final.
North said the Scorchers would enter the finals full of confidence despite their loss to the Sixers.
"We knew today was going to be very, very tough, especially playing them at the SCG. I thought we met them pretty much all the way, we just got squeezed towards the end," North said.
"We take a lot of confidence with the way we played. We've got two of our key players out for this game, who will be back for the semi-final on the weekend. That'll obviously be handy for us."
"The reality is in this competition every game's really hard to win."