Albion chairman Tony Bloom has refused to bow to fan pressure demanding the sacking of manager Sami Hyypia.

The club were standing firm in their support for the under-fire Finn as The Argus went to press last night.

According to sources there remains no urgent desire at Boardroom level to remove Hyypia from his post.

He has continually declared he is a fighter, not a quitter, and seems unlikely to resign six months into a three-year contract.

The mood against Hyypia reached fever pitch during Friday evening’s 1-0 defeat by fellow Championship strugglers Millwall at the Amex.

With his wife and children in the crowd, he had to endure cries of ‘You don’t know what you’re doing’ when his team fell an early goal behind.

Widespread chants of ‘We want Hyypia out’ during the second half were followed by raucous boos at the final whistle.

Bloom, watching his last game before his annual winter migration to Australia, was bullish in defence of Hyypia during last month’s international break.

The ex-Liverpool and Bayer Leverkusen stalwart, appointed by Bloom in the summer as successor to Oscar Garcia, survived a routine Board meeting last week in the wake of the early 3-0 surrender at promotion-chasing Derby County, which kept Albion in the relegation zone.

Their plight has worsened after losing to Millwall. They head for mid-table Wolves on Saturday three points adrift of safety.

Hyypia is an even money favourite with bookmakers Bet Victor to be the next Championship managerial casualty. Nigel Adkins, in charge of Boxing Day visitors Reading, is second favourite at 5-2 after Saturday’s 6-1 thrashing at Birmingham.

Bet Victor have also opened betting on the next Albion boss, with Chris Hughton and Tony Pulis 4-1 joint favourites.

Speculation yesterday linking Pulis with the job is wide of the mark, The Argus understands.