Cheshire Phoenix captain David Aliu is hoping to ensure his side give the Northgate Arena a fond farewell on Sunday night and book their place in the BBL Play-Off final at the O2 Arena in London.

The Nix play their last ever game at the Northgate, their home for the past 21 years, when they entertain London Lions in the second leg of the play-offs on Sunday (5.30pm), before taking up residence in their new 1,400-seater home at the newly-built Ellesmere Port Sports Village at Cheshire Oaks next season.

With a vital first leg at the Copper Box in London to take care of first on Friday (7.30pm), Aliu, who has been one of the unsung heroes for the Phoenix in the BBL this season, wants to ensure that head coach John Coffino’s men sign off in style on their home court.

“These two games are massive for the players, the fans and the club and it would be brilliant if we could finish at the Northgate with a win to get us to the O2,” said Liverpool-born Aliu, who joined the club from Manchester Giants last summer.

“It’s been a long while since there have been any trophies brought back to Chester so we want to try and put that right this time around, but we know how tough it is going to be.

“Hopefully there’ll be a good crowd in on Sunday to cheer us on as it makes a massive difference to us on the court.”

After the Cheshire Jets almost folded back in 2012, the club were saved and rebranded as the Phoenix and have made steady progress in British basketball’s top flight as a community interest company.

American coach Coffino has led the Nix to fourth this season in the BBL and into the play-off semi-finals after their aggregate, two-leg win over Glasgow Rocks in the last eight, but the wait for silverware for the club has lasted a decade.

The Chester Jets won the BBL in 2005 but the last play-off success for the club came during the 2001/2002 season where they completed the famous ‘Jetwash’, winning the league, BBL Cup, BBL Trophy and also the play-offs.

But 33-year-old Aliu, a seasoned veteran of the BBL, knows all too well that in order to end that long wait and make it to the showpiece final on May 10, which will be shown live on the BBC red button, the Nix must negotiate their two clashes with London.

“They’re the form team at the moment,” said Aliu of the Lions, who booked their place in the last four by destroying Worcester Wolves with a 186-142 aggregate triumph over Worcester Wolves, last year’s play-off winners.

“It’s going to be a really tough couple of games as they have got loads of experience and talent with the likes of Zaire Taylor (last season’s BBL MVP) and Drew Sullivan (Great Britain captain).

“But we know what we have to do and we have beaten them a couple of times already so we know we can do it.

“It would be an amazing achievement for us to get to the O2 and it would probably rank as my greatest moment in the sport if it were to happen, but we have a job to do before we start getting too carried away.

“It would be the perfect end to the season if we were able to go all the way and win the play-offs. It would be an amazing achievement for the players, the staff and the fans. We believe we can do it. We have the talent, we know we can play the best and beat the best. We just need to go and do that on Friday and Sunday and make sure we give it our all.”