Chambers ready for England U21s' test in Norway

The Three Lions are in Drammen for their first group qualifying game on Monday evening, which will take place on an artificial surface at the Marienlyst Stadium.

But after training at the venue for the first time following their arrival in the town on Sunday afternoon and also having worked on the indoor surface at St. George’s Park, the Arsenal man believes it can only help England play to their strengths.

"To be honest, I think the pitch is good so I’m looking forward to it," revealed Chambers.

"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.

Gareth Southgate speaks to members of his squad during a training session on the artificial surface at St. George's Park

"That was a lot drier than the one here, so we’re already used to playing on it and there are no excuses why we can’t play."

Gareth Southgate’s side also know they will face a strong and committed Norwegian side, who began their qualification campaign in June with a 2-0 win over Bosnia & Herzegovina.

That match also took place in Drammen too, so England’s hosts will be hoping that the familiar pitch can give them the advantage.

But 20-year-old Chambers has seen enough from his squad-mates over the last week to know that they are capable of bringing three points back home.

"It’s a tough start," admitted the former Southampton man. 

"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.

"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."

The U21s squad during their training session at the Marienlyst Stadium in Drammen on Sunday

Southgate’s new-look squad started their new campaign with a 1-0 victory over USA in Preston last week, a game in which Chambers played 90 minutes in his favoured role of central defence.

And with that display coming on the back of just a few days of training since meeting up last Sunday evening, he believes there’s more than enough encouragement for the future.

"I thought it was a good performance from us, to be honest," he added. 

"It was a good result, we kept a clean sheet and that’s always a bonus. But we fought hard during the game and got through some hard spells.

"During those little spells of possession they had, we stuck together as a team and we fought through it, which is a good sign.

"We might want to score more goals, but over time we will start to get that fluidity as well.

"The more times we meet up and games we play, everyone will feel more comfortable around each other but it’s a good bunch of lads here."

After Monday’s game, Chambers and his team-mates will next be in action on home soil when they face Kazakhstan at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry on Tuesday 13 October. Tickets for that game are on sale now. Click here for more details.