Wednesday 11 November 2015 17:22, UK
England winger Raheem Sterling is looking forward to testing himself against Europe's best when England take on Spain on Friday, followed by France on Tuesday.
Sterling will win his 20th cap on Tuesday if he features in both matches and is part of a young England squad that does not possess a great deal of international experience.
But Sterling is not worried and is confident Roy Hodgson's squad can perform well in two games which offer a good yardstick of England's level ahead of Euro 2016.
"We had a very good run in qualifying," Sterling said. "We were unbeaten but we know this is the real challenge now and we will be playing some of Europe's best teams.
"This is where we really get to see where we are in terms of the tournament in the summer, so hopefully we can really show what we can do and get the win [against Spain on Friday].
"It's quite a young squad and we know that, but the players that are here have been playing first-team club football for quite some time now. They have now got quite a lot games under their belts and are trying to grow their experience with the national team now.
"I think it's been a good year for the national team. We've obviously had some new players come in and they've done really well but as I said before we are a very young squad and it's a really exciting time for England.
"Hopefully these young players - and I am one of them as well - can come together and really do our best so that we can shine for our country.
"This week will be no different. We'll try and work hard and obviously there will be a fight for places but I'll try and be involved against Spain on Friday and we'll obviously try and get a result."
Sterling believes Hodgson has some good attacking options at his disposal in the form of Everton's Ross Barkley and Leicester striker Jamie Vardy, who has scored nine goals in his last nine Premier League games.
"The likes of Jamie Vardy have been on a good goalscoring streak so far," Sterling said. "It's been good for English football. Hopefully, he can keep scoring goals and bring that form into the England setup and hopefully his goals can win us football matches in the future.
"Ross has been doing really well for Everton and I just think we have got a good team than go forward and can counter-attack. We've got players in the squad that can score goals, which is exciting, and we just need to keep going and try and win football matches for the country."
