City's England Under-21s 'keeper looking forward to match
The 21-year-old shot-stopper was called-up to the U-21s squad along with the likes of goalkeeper Jack Butland and fellow Canary Ryan Bennett as they face off against tough Serbian opposition in Fridayâs 6pm kick-off.
Tickets for the match are just ÂŁ10 for adults, and ÂŁ5 for U-18s, over-65s, and students, and a proud Rudd is hoping to hear the same vocal support from the fans for the Young Lions as is afforded Chris Hughtonâs side every other weekend at Carrow Road.
âIt would be a great honour to play. Obviously we donât know the team yet, and nobody knows who is going to be playing and who is not,â said Rudd.
âItâd be a great occasion for me if I could play, but we donât know yet and weâll have to see on Friday night.
âObviously it will be a good crowd here supporting us and getting behind the team â they always are on a Saturday for the Norwich City team, so Iâm expecting the same for the England lads as well.
âItâll be a good atmosphere and all the lads are looking forward to it.
âItâs a massive thing, playing in the European Championships, and it doesnât really get much bigger than that for our age group, so itâll be a great occasion and a good possibility to be in a major tournament. All the lads are going to give their best to make sure we make it.
âItâs great with the U-21s - Iâm playing with the best players in my age group in the country, and the coaches are great too.Â
âTraining is sharp and you learn a lot from the other players and their experiences. Itâs a great chance to be involved and Iâve got to enjoy every second of it.â
In the Young Lionsâ way stand Serbiaâs U-21s â a team with excellent pedigree at this level having reached the final of the European Under-21 Championships in 2004 and 2007.
The unbeaten Serbs sealed top-spot in their qualifying group just like Pearceâs young charges, however Rudd is more inclined to focus on the strengths of his own team than Friday nightâs opponents.
He added: âI think as long as we stick to our game plan and play as well as we are able to then weâve got a great chance.Â
âWeâve a good group of players here with a good team ethic, and weâre staying positive in the hope of getting a good result.
âWe can see whatâs at stake â if we win this two-legged play off then weâre in the European Championships in the summer, so thereâs a lot on it, but it just fires the lads on more to do well.
âAs long as  we stick to what the gaffer tells us to do, stick to our game plan and play to our full potential weâve got a great chance.Â
âObviously it would be great to go over to their place with a lead, but weâll give it our best and hopefully weâll get a result.
âI think weâre just going to worry about our own game.â
England and major tournaments are synonymous with penalty-shootouts â something that Rudd was busy practising during a training session at Carrow Road on Thursday, and the youngster would even be willing to step up to the mark and take one  himself.
âIâm confident to get up and take one,â said Rudd. âBut my main job is keeping the ball out of the net, so if I can do that, thatâs all that really matters.
âWe practice penalties every day after training â everyone gets one penalty, although âkeepers get more practice because we get to face more.Â
âItâs good to get down and work on penalties, and it usually does come down to penalties with England. I think weâre well prepared for it if it does come along and hopefully we can get through on penalties if we have to.â
Watch the full interview with Declan Rudd with a free trial of Canaries Player by clicking here