Kristoffer Ajer says Norway have been impressed by Wales despite their difficult start to the Nations League and expects a demanding night in Cardiff on Thursday.
The Brentford defender is preparing for Norway's third game of the international break after a win over Denmark and defeat to Portugal left Stale Solbakken's side with three points from their opening two fixtures.
Wales have lost both of theirs, going down 1-0 in Portugal before a 2-0 defeat away to Denmark, but Ajer was not reading much into those results when he spoke to Welsh broadcaster Sgorio ahead of the game. Norway have looked closely at both performances and the 28-year-old picked out the pace in Craig Bellamy's side.
"We've analysed the team now against Portugal and Denmark and I think they're really impressive in a lot of phases of the game, so we need to be fully prepared," Ajer told Sgorio.
"We know that they've got a lot of quality, lots of speed, so we need to be ready tomorrow."
Wales are still waiting for their first point in League A4, having also failed to score in their opening two games. Norway started rather differently, beating Denmark 3-2 at Ullevaal before Portugal left Oslo with a 2-1 victory three days later.
The group has already left little margin between the sides. Portugal are the only team to have won both of their matches, while Norway now face consecutive away games against Wales and Portugal before the competition pauses until November.
Ajer expects Wales to play with some urgency after those first two defeats.
"In this group, there's four really good countries that have a lot of quality," he said. "We know that tomorrow night will be a fantastic atmosphere here and they will come out really, really eager to get the three points. So we will have to do the same thing."
It will be Ajer's first international appearance in Cardiff during this run of fixtures, but there should be plenty that feels familiar. Several members of the Wales squad play their club football in England and Ajer has now been a Premier League regular for Brentford for more than five years.
He arrived for international duty after starting every one of the Bees' opening five league games this season. Ajer has played all 450 Premier League minutes so far, with Brentford unbeaten after wins over Tottenham and Chelsea and draws with Leeds United, Sunderland and Bournemouth. The centre-back has been ever-present in the Bees' defence this season, playing every minute of their Premier League campaign alongside a back line which has seen regular change due to both injury and rotation.
International football has brought a different test though, with a loss to Portugal on Sunday following their opening win over Denmark. Ajer felt their performance was better than the result suggested, although he accepted that a few moments had gone against them.
"I think we played a really good game against Portugal," he said. "Obviously, we have to look at the performance and that was good. We were unlucky in a few phases of the game that cost us the victory. But looking back on it, it was a positive performance."
There has at least been an extra day for Norway to recover before facing Wales, something Ajer welcomed given how tightly the four matches have been packed into the international window. The squad travelled to Cardiff knowing another away game in Portugal follows on Sunday.
Ajer will then return to west London ahead of Brentford's trip to Aston Villa on October 10. Before that, Norway have two important games in a group where the opening week has already given every side plenty to think about.
