Striker targets positive end to season
VICTOR Anichebe feels he has now found his feet at The Hawthorns and says he is ready to be selfish in front of goal as Albion close in on Barclays Premier League survival.
The 6ft3in striker netted vital equalisers in February’s 1-1 home draws with Liverpool and Chelsea – but missed the Baggies’ games against Cardiff and Norwich after suffering a hamstring injury in last month’s trip to Hull.
The Nigeria international, who expects to be fit for Saturday’s Hawthorns clash with Tottenham (ko 3.07pm), believes he has made more of an impact for Albion since Christmas after a summer move from boyhood club Everton.
“I feel like since Christmas I have found my feet,” said Anichebe.
“I feel like I’ve offered something to the team when I’ve played, whether that be scoring or assisting goals.
“As I get fitter, and as I understand the team more and more, hopefully I can improve and get a few more goals.
“I’m working on getting into better scoring positions.
“I’m not the finished article and I still have lots of work to do.
“I feel like I’ve got pretty good at holding the ball up and linking play but maybe I need to be a bit more selfish.
“People always tell me I should shoot more but it’s picking the right time to do that.
“I’m hoping to end this season how I ended last season at Everton.
“I feel like I’m having more of an influence on the team now.
“If I can get into more scoring positions then it should benefit me and the team.
“The team has done well over the last few games and hopefully we can build on that on Saturday.”
But Anichebe admits there is no guarantee he will return to the starting XI against Spurs.
“I’m feeling better and I just pulled my hamstring towards the end of the Hull game,” he added.
“I have tried to be involved in the last two games but it wasn’t quite right.
“It was probably quite sensible for me to not be involved in the Norwich game.
“I should be a lot better come Saturday.
“But [Matej] Vydra has come in and done really well.
“We’ve also got Saido [Berahino] and Thievy has played a big part as well.
“Hopefully we can also get the likes of Claudio, Billy and Brunty back available and we can pick up the points we need to stay up.”