Southgate hopes for second taste of win in Drammen

The Three Lions open their new Euro Qualifying campaign at the Marienlyst Stadium on Monday night.

And it’s a venue at which Southgate has already tasted victory once, after captaining Aston Villa to a 3-0 win over Stromgodset in a UEFA Cup game in 1998.

Stan Collymore was the hero that night with a hat-trick against the Norwegian side, but Southgate is now looking to his own squad to make their own story in the portal city.

"It has changed enormously, the buildings at the stadium and everything," admitted Southgate.

"It was only when we arrived on Sunday that I realised it was where Stromgodset played and that brought the memories back.

"That was a pretty good night, we won well on that occasion so hopefully it will be the same outcome tonight."

As Southgate alluded to, the venue itself is vastly different to when John Gregory's Villa team visited 17 years ago.

One of the main differences is the artificial surface now in place, which impressed Southgate following their training session at the stadium on Sunday evening.

"It’s actually really good and a new generation of artificial pitch so it’s as good as I’ve seen," he revealed.

Stan Collymore scored a hat-trick when Southgate's Villa visited Drammen in 1998

"It really plays a lot more like grass than what we’re used so I’m quite positive about it. They water it heavily so the ball moves quickly and I’m not really concerned about it at all.

"There are still varying levels of these pitches but this is as good as I’ve seen and I’m quite encouraged by that."

Southgate knows his side will be tested to the full by their hosts though, with Norway having already started their Euro qualification campaign and topping the group thanks to a victory over Bosnia & Herzegovina in June.

But after seeing his side start their new season with a win against USA in Preston last week, Southgate believes there is enough talent in his squad to get their new season off to a perfect start.

Southgate's squad trained on the pitch at the Marienlyst Stadium on Sunday

"They’re a country that always have a good mentality and they’ve had six or seven matches together, as when they didn’t qualify last summer they got together a bit earlier," he revealed.

"So they’re up to speed a bit more than we are perhaps, but I think we have good players and I have great faith in them.

"They’re already starting to gel together as a group and if we play to the level that we can, I’m sure we can win the game."

The U21s will next be in action on home soil when they host Kazakhstan at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry on Tuesday 13 October. Tickets are on sale now, click here for more details.