Sami Hyypia has backed his Portuguese prospect to relish being the centre of attention.

The Albion boss reckons Joao Teixeira will shrug off expectation of fans at the Amex as he makes his home debut against Bolton.

He believes the on-loan Liverpool playmaker could even improve on his full debut at Leeds with all eyes on him today.

Hyypia said: “He is a good kid, he has a good mentality.

“I don’t think it will be a problem. I think he can even raise his game as well.”

Hyypia believes Teixeira and Danny Holla have inspired their new colleagues.

He added: “When you have two players who keep the ball, not losing the ball easily, it gives confidence to the rest of the players.

“I think that was one key thing on Tuesday. Everybody raised their game.”

Hyypia expects winless Bolton to make life tough as they look to get their season off the ground.

He said: “We need to be ready to win the battle, then hopefully with our quality and our passing we can create chances to score goals.”