Despite being linked with a move away from the Riverside during the Asian Cup, Schwarzer says he could still stay.

The Socceroos goalkeeper says his agent is handling the ongoing negotiations - and that Boro remain in contention to keep him.

“Not a great deal is happening," he admitted.

"My agent [has been] speaking with Middlesbrough over the course over the last couple of weeks, and I’m assuming in the next couple of week as well.

"As far as I’m concerned I’ve still got one year left to go and Middlesbrough don’t want to let me go and I’ll be staying until the end of my contract at least."

But he repeated his call for the side to raise their sights in the transfer market - and hang onto their top players.

Schwarzer's Socceroo team-mate Mark Viduka walked out on the club to join Newcastle this season after Boro boss Gareth Southgate failed to persuade him to stay.

And Boro's moves in the transfer market have yet to raise much excitement.

Schwarzer said: “We’ve brought in three new players and they’re all different sorts of players.

"But I haven’t seen a lot of them as yet because I’ve only been back for four or five days and only time will tell."

He added: “It’s a case of the Premiership getting harder and harder and teams are strengthening more and more with time.

"If you want to compete, you have to keep up with the other teams."

But Schwarzer is still hopeful of more talent coming to the Riverside before the transfer deadline at the end of this month.

And he hopes it will lead to a stronger finish this season after their disappointing 12th in 06/07.

He added: "I think the manager is definitely at bringing in a couple of more faces into the squad...and I think we probably need to as well."