Melbourne Aces coach Phil Dale believes his team can exploit an understrength Perth Heat side missing Major League player Luke Hughes in the Australian Baseball League championship series.

Reigning champions the Heat enter the series as heavy favourites after dominating the regular season and beating Melbourne in the major semi-final two weeks ago, but they’re without Minnesota Twins infielder Hughes because of a shoulder injury.

Hughes, who had an impressive .344 batting average in 19 games this season, joins departed import hitters Alex Burg and Aaron Baker as absentees for the best-of-three series in Perth starting on Friday.

Dale said Hughes’ absence in particular had made the Aces confident they could prevent the Heat from winning back-to-back titles.

“They did have a much stronger club earlier in the season, before Christmas they had a lot more imports and they’re back to the pack now,” he said.

“Hughes is a quality player and a really powerful hitter so not having to face him is definitely a plus for us.

“There’s a bit of pressure on them but we’re trying not to concern ourselves with that. We’re good enough, we’re an experienced club and we’re confident we can get it done.”

Perth has dominated Melbourne in the two seasons of the ABL, winning 16 of the 21 meetings between the two sides, and Dale said that was a mental obstacle the Aces had to overcome.

“Looking at those results they do have an edge over a period of time,” he said.

“But this year we’ve played Perth pretty competitively because most of the games we’ve lost have been pretty close and it’s time for us to turn that around.”

With Hughes unavailable, the Heat will rely on Most Valuable Player award finalist Tim Kennelly for offensive production.

Kennelly, who was second in the league in batting average and runs batted in, said Perth’s experience in winning last year’s Grand Final over Adelaide would help them overcome Hughes’ absence.

“Having that experience definitely gives you self-belief,” he said.

“We’ve been there before so it’s just a matter of trying not to put the extra pressure on yourself because that’s when you start to make the mistakes.”

Kennelly said limiting the effectiveness of star Melbourne hitters Justin Huber, Brad Harman and Elliott Biddle was vital for Perth to take the series, which runs from Friday to Sunday.