ALBION boss Sami Hyypia has hailed the influence of new foreign signings Joao Teixeira and Danny Holla in securing his team's first Championship points of the season.

Liverpool loanee Teixeira from Portugal made the early breakthrough on his first start and former Den Haag defensive midfielder Holla impressed on his debut in last night's convincing 2-0 victory at Leeds.

Hyypia told The Argus: "Joao is a young player, Liverpool have a very big squad and I wouldn't think he would have got a lot of time on the pitch.

"A player of his age (21) needs to play games to improve and I'm happy to have him here.

"He and Danny Holla played very well. They added the kind of quality we were maybe lacking in the previous games."

Holla lasted 74 minutes of his first outing since his farewell appearance for Den Haag on May 3.

Hyypia said of the Dutchman: "I didn't have any doubt about putting himn straight in, because he has been training with Den Haag. At the end he was a bit tired. We knew he was not going to last 90 minutes but he brought quality to the team and played very well."

Ex-Barnsley playmaker Paddy McCourt was an unused substitute at Elland Road after earning a one-year contract following a brief trial period at the Amex.

Hyypia said: "I think Paddy is also going to bring quality we were lacking. He is very good on the ball, a good dribbler who sees passes, and he is very calm on the ball. That's very important.

"I'm very happy with the performance, especially the first half. We showed what we can do. Leeds came back stronger in the second half but we battled like we have been battling all the games."