When the warm up slot for Taylor Swift is up for grabs, it's not the normal support band. The country-pop star's status demands a huge name to open up her tour. 

Ed Sheeran is the man charged with warming up the crowds, and he thinks it could be his road into The U.S Market, MTV reports. "This is actually my biggest outing to date," Sheeran explained, just hours before he took the stage for his first-ever sold-out arena date at the Capital FM Arena in Nottingham, England. "I've never gone on tour for six months without any break. I've never really touched multiple arenas, so that' going to be a bit mind-blowing." Looking forward to the rest of the gigs, Sheeran knows it's not his tour: "It's Taylor show and I'm meant to open up and get them warmed up," he said. "I'm not going to try and out burlesque show it. [There will be] no trapeze." But, considering the audiences Swift attracts, this could be exactly what Ed needs to conquer the much-coveted American market. "I think Taylor's just opening up a lot of doors and it's up to me to make sure that I get through to them," he said of her largely young, female audience. "It's a massive opportunity for me and I want to make sure to grab it with both hands ... it will be exciting to be back in a situation where I'm playing in front of people who are complete strangers and I have to win them over."

It's funny that Ed Sheeran could be a support act, but given Swifts monolithic presence in the pop world - her album Red surpassing records at the speed of light - it's just the kind of thing the flame-haired songster needs.