Speculation over the 34-year-old's continued presence on Teesside has been mounting since his agent Shep Messing revealed in July he had turned down an offer from the club to extend his current deal.

Schwarzer, who is in the final year of his existing contract, has now expressed his intention to leave things until January, at which point he will also be free to talk to other clubs.

He said: "I have made it clear to (manager) Gareth Southgate that at the moment, I am happy to continue the way it is, and we have both agreed to put it off until the end of the year."

The Schwarzer camp has always insisted the Australian is keen to extend his stay at the Riverside Stadium, but that the deal must be right for him to do so.

Southgate will hope the delay in talks does not result in a similar course of events to the one which saw Schwarzer's compatriot Mark Viduka swap Teesside for Tyneside during the summer.

The manager admitted as the 31-year-old exercised the right to consider his options that with hindsight, he might have moved earlier in an attempt to secure his services as the late intervention of chairman Steve Gibson, chief executive Keith Lamb and Southgate himself failed to persuade Viduka to stay.

Schwarzer, who played in Australia's 1-0 friendly defeat by Argentina in Melbourne earlier this week, joined Boro in a £1.5million move from Bradford in February 1997 and signed a three-year extension in January 2005.

He was travelling back to England today nursing a knee injury suffered in a collision with Lionel Messi.

The goalkeeper was treated on the pitch and managed to finish the game, but he will be assessed on his return ahead of Saturday's Premier League trip to West Ham.

Schwarzer said: "My leg is a bit sore, but hopefully it won't come up too badly over the next couple of days.

"I should be all right to play against West Ham, but we will have to wait and see what happens."

Schwarzer has missed only one game for his club so far this season - he was rested for the 2-0 Carling Cup victory over Northampton - and will hope to maintain his ever-present tag in the league at Upton Park.

Boro have rallied well after losing their opening two games to Blackburn and Wigan, and head for London defending a four-game unbeaten run.

That is all the more creditable because of the changes Southgate made during the summer after losing Viduka and then strike partner Ayegbeni Yakubu.

He is desperate to provide a more attacking brand of football and is confident his new-look side have done just that in recent weeks.

Schwarzer said: "We need to continue on the good form that we have shown in the last couple of weeks because it is a big game for us on Saturday.

"We have to build on the performances we have had so far, and the most important thing is for us to play well and start to work our way up the table.

"We need to finish in the top half of the table. In the last couple of seasons, we have consistently finished around 11th to 13th in the table, so we really need to aim for a UEFA Cup place this season.

"If we do that, then anything is possible."