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West Brom determined to get Anichebe fit

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Assistant boss Dave Kemp admits one of West Brom's challenges for next season is to keep striker Victor Anichebe fit.

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At 27, the powerful forward has made just 80 league starts in his career after a series of niggling injuries and only 22 for Albion, since his £6million signing from Everton two years ago.

Anichebe has managed only 45 top-flight appearances for the Baggies out of 76 in the last two seasons, scoring six times.

And Kemp admits the former Everton hit-man needs to be available much more if he is to realise his considerable potential in his peak years.

Kemp said: "If you look at his career, he hasn't played enough. Whether we can get him on the pitch more, we'll have to wait and see, but when he's played, he's had some really good games.

"Once we got him fit he started to make an impact and that's very pleasing, but he was injured when we came, so it's about getting him up to speed.

"We'd have liked to have used him more, but he wasn't fit."

Victor Anichebe of West Bromwich Albion.

Meanwhile, in the wake of Villa's run to the FA Cup final at the weekend, Kemp has reiterated boss Tony Pulis' aim to see Albion at Wembley.

The pair led Stoke to the FA Cup final in 2011 when they lost to Manchester City.

Albion won the last of their five FA Cups in 1968 and haven't triumphed in the League Cup since their only success in 1966.

But while he admits chasing the billionaire-funded cream of the Premier League might be beyond them, Kemp believes cup success is a realistic ambition for the Baggies.

He said: "Winning a cup should not be out of the reach of this club sometime in the future. It depends how strongly the opposition go.

"I wouldn't want to start saying 'we can do this or that' and I don't want to start setting targets, but progress can hopefully include good cup runs.

"It's about progress – as in not being down the bottom of the Premier League.

"But I don't know what is achievable quite frankly because you don't know what your competitors are doing.

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"We're competing against Chelsea and Manchester United and their incredible financial backing."

Kemp is hopeful he and Pulis will be able to start moving Albion in the right direction, after achieving safety relatively comfortably in their first five months in charge.

He said: "The only negative is we came in so late that it's all been about playing catch-up since we've been here. Now it will settle down and we can start moving it forward.

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"But I have enjoyed it. This is a good football club. It's a well-run club with a good history and a good feel about it."

Having been based around London for most of his life, Kemp won't be moving his family to the West Midlands, however, because of the volatile nature of the job

He said: "No, I have a place where I stay in the Midlands, as does the manager. I have my base in London and he has his in Bournemouth.

"He's been there for 30-odd years, the same as I have. In this business, if you start moving everybody around the wind is not always behind you!"