Calum Chambers has traveled to Norway with the England u21 squad to take part in their Euro qualifying match and insists that although it’s a tough tie, there will be no excuses.

The 20-year-old has only featured three times for the u21s but played 18 times for the u19s. Competition for places in the senior squad is fierce, so having Chambers play for the Young Lions is an ideal way of developing his game and allowing him to gain confidence by representing his country.

The defender insists that they won’t take their opponents for granted and they realise it won’t be an easy game.

“It’s a tough start,” Chambers said.

“Any international match isn’t going to be easy, we’ve prepared well and we know it’s going to be a tough game and a tough fight.

“But with the preparation that we’ve done and the quality in this group, we know that we’ve got to go into it with everyone focused and ready to give 100 per cent.”

The former Southampton man added, “It’s a good bunch of lads here and everyone’s got respect for each other, so I think we’re starting to gel together well and everyone is coming out of their shell a little bit more.”

An issue that often arises with the younger national teams is pitch quality, as many clubs don’t have the money to maintain a perfect pitch. However, in Norway, Chambers claims this won’t be an issue.

“To be honest, I think the pitch is good so I’m looking forward to it,” the 20-year-old revealed.

“When we trained there earlier, they had watered it so the ball was zipping around on it a lot more than I thought it would.

“So if it’s the same as that on Monday night, we shouldn’t have any excuses as to why we can’t play out from the back and the fluid football that we like to play.

“We’ve prepared well and over the last couple of days we have trained on an artificial pitch at St. George’s Park.”

England’s last match was against the USA, which they won 1-0, so Gareth Southgate’s men will be looking for a similar performance.

Chuba Akpom was also set to be included in the squad, but suffered an injury leaving him sidelined.