Peter Odemwingie's ambitous target

Ambitious Albion striker Peter Odemwingie has urged the Baggies to target a spot in Europe after their memorable derby victory over Birmingham.

Odemwingie, who grabbed his second Albion goal in Saturday's 3-1 win, wants the club to aim high after he helped inspire a comeback win against Blues to move Albion into the top half of the early Premier League table.

While admitting a place in the Europa League is a long shot for a newly-promoted club, the Nigeria international insisted his own experience in helping Lille qualify for Europe proves the value of setting ambitious targets.

He said: "There is strength in the squad and we can definitely look forward to staying in the Premier League.

"We emphasise playing good football and I think that will attract more supporters to the club.

"The ambition is definitely to stay in the Premier League, although I haven't heard anyone talking about us making the Europa League.

"I haven't heard anyone say that, but inside me I will keep the hope. When I went to Lille they weren't expecting anything, but we ended up finishing second.

"So why not? If things go well we can end up finishing in the top seven."

The £2million signing scored to put Albion 2-1 up on Saturday, after applying the pressure that forced Scott Dann's own goal to draw the Baggies level.

And the 29-year-old also walked away with the sponsors' Man of the Match champagne, following an eye-catching all-round display.

It came on the day Baggies fans unfurled an anti-racist banner in support of the striker, whose departure from Lokomotiv Moscow brought an apparently racist message from supporters of the Russian club.

Odemwingie made a point of celebrating with supporters at the Birmingham Road End - the location of the banner - at the final whistle.

He said: "I went to thank the fans for the effort they put in to encourage me, to get behind me and to make me feel at home.

"They gave me a lot of support and got behind me, so I want to thank them. It's a big thing for me to be here, because everything is nice and positive. I think it's a blessing for me to be here. I don't doubt that this place is right for me.

"All those little doubts that you sometimes have are gone."