Ashton Turner concedes Perth Scorchers only have themselves to blame as they prepare to put their finals hopes on the line in a must-win clash with Sydney Thunder.

A blistering Steve Smith century at the SCG on Saturday condemned Perth to their third successive defeat, following final-over heartbreakers to the Thunder and Melbourne Renegades at Optus Stadium in the past week.

But despite the close defeats, including Turner nearly pulling off a miracle to chase down Sydney Sixers’ mammoth total of 220, the Scorchers have been nowhere close to their best in any facet of the game.

“No doubt (the loss against the Sixers) is a bit of a reflection of our campaign and our season,” the Perth captain said.

“At times, our execution hasn’t been where we’d like it to be. We haven’t been too far off at times, and we’ve been able to win some games, but it hurts when really good players get in, and there’s nowhere to hide.”

The loss leaves Perth teetering on the verge of missing finals with just three wins from eight outings and means their final two fixtures against the Thunder and Adelaide Strikers are simply must-win.

“I don’t look at the table close enough, but I think we’ve probably left our destiny in the hands of other teams,” Turner said.

“If we win our last two games, I think we can get through, but we’ve made our bed, and we’re going to have to lie in it.

“I think it’s disappointing the way we’ve performed, particularly these last two games in Perth where we’ve lost in the last couple balls.”

Perth technically sits equal last with the log jam of teams on six points, raised only by their net run rate, and will have an eye glued to the table in the final days of home-and-away fixturing.

However, Turner still wasn’t ruling the perennial winners out, saying the team had more than enough talent to compete for the title.

“I think there’s still a lot of belief in this group. We’ve been successful for too long for that to dissipate overnight,” he said.

“We’ve got a lot of quality cricketers and exciting young cricketers coming through. I still believe we are one of if not the best, team in this competition.

“It probably makes it even more frustrating knowing the quality of our squad. Unfortunately, we only have ourselves to blame for the position we’re in right now.”

Perth will get spearhead Lance Morris back from Cricket Australia’s workload management plan but are left without Jhye Richardson, the star seamer requiring another shoulder surgery.

It means out-of-form pair Matthew Kelly and Andrew Tye will need to find a way to impact or the Scorchers could turn to debuting youngsters Bryce Jackson or Mahli Beardman

The Scorchers did beat the Strikers comfortably on New Year’s Eve, reducing their top order to 8-58, while the Thunder needed a whirlwind knock from West Indian Sherfane Rutherford, who has now departed the competition, who hit the winning runs from the final ball through fine leg, courtesy of slow over rates reducing the number of boundary riders Perth were allowed for the final six balls.

It took an even more unbelievable innings from Smith to topple the Scorchers at the SCG, the national star making the most of his first Big Bash outing, crashing an unbeaten 121.

Turner did his best to rescue the match with a power-packed unbeaten 66 from 32 balls after Sam Fanning made a rapid 41, and Cooper Connolly 33, to give the visitors a slim chance, but it wasn’t enough as Perth fell 14 runs short.

“I think the damage was done in one innings,” Turner said.

“One guy played amazingly well and has been probably the best player in the competition in his limited appearances over the last few years.

“He’s hard to stop once he gets in on a wicket like that.”

Smith equaled Ben McDermott for most Big Bash centuries with three, but in far fewer knocks.