Henri Lansbury is looking forward to helping England get the 2013 UEFA European Under-21 Championship campaign up and running against Azerbaijan on Thursday evening.
The 20-year-old midfielder has had a whirlwind week, breaking off from training with the Young Lions to put pen to paper on a season-long loan to West Ham United from Arsenal on Wednesday night. Lansbury has yet to meet his new Hammers team-mates as his immediate focus is on doing the business for Stuart Pearce's men.
The Azeri match will be played at Vicarage Road, Watford - a ground that Lansbury, who featured in Arsenal's first two Premier League matches this season, knows well from a loan spell with the Hornets. "It's a nice pitch and I played there two seasons ago," he told TheFA.com. "I'm looking forward to the game.
"There's a fresh bunch of lads so we hope we can start the Euros off with a good game.
Lansbury, who played three times in the ultimately disappointing 2011 EURO finals in Denmark this summer, added: "Being there and experiencing it was one of the worst feelings I've felt. So we have to go out and show what we can do again.
"We look very sharp and it's always good to play with new players. I think we've got a great chance and a great group of lads. We're just looking forward to getting started."
England follow up the qualifier with a friendly against Israel at Barnsley on Monday night. This evening's game against Azerbaijan will be shown live on ESPN in the UK from 7.30pm.