MARK SCHWARZER has already fulfilled two dreams at Middlesbrough and now, after recently pledging his future to the club, the super shot-stopper wants to achieve an even bigger goal.

The Australian international's future had been up in the air for nearly a year after failing to agree terms on a new contract.

But a couple of weeks ago the two parties finally reached a compromise and Schwarzer penned a three-year extension to his deal, ending any hopes Manchester United or any other admirers may have had of stealing the player on a free transfer in the summer.

The 32-year-old flew out with the rest of the Middlesbrough squad yesterday ahead of tonight's UEFA Cup first leg with Austrian champions Grazer AK, as Steve McClaren's men aim to clinch a place in the last 16 of the competition.

Schwarzer's decision to commit to Middlesbrough solves a massive problem for the Teessiders, who would have struggled to find a ready-made replacement of equal talent.

But the goalkeeper himself insists he would not have stayed had he considered Middlesbrough to be unable to compete regularly on the European stage and in the best club tournament of them all, the Champions League.

"One of my ambitions was to play in Europe with a club and one was to win a trophy with Middlesbrough - I have done both so that's been great in the last year," said Schwarzer, a £1.2m buy in 1997 from Bradford.

"Next I would like to be consistently in European football and that means be in the UEFA Cup minimum; if Champions League comes along then it's a bonus. We can definitely do that this year. To qualify for Europe through the league is the hardest way to do it.

"This club has great potential. Last year we created history but there's room for more history breaking year on year.

"The club has progressed a great deal in the eight years I have been here and we are very close to challenging for the top four, maybe not the title. Top four is a big possibility because there has been a lot of inconsistency from teams."

Since Schwarzer put pen to paper recently he has had an up-turn in form, with solid displays against Blackburn and Bolton, two games in which Middlesbrough have picked up four points.

But the Aussie star claims that below-par performances prior to that were not down to the ongoing contract dispute at the club.

"When you are having a good season and there's a dip in form it's easy to say it must be his contract but there are very few players who can go through a full season without lapses in form," said Schwarzer. "I did have a dip but I don't think it had anything to do with my situation.

"I could have had a free transfer later in the year but I proved by signing that I was being truthful when I said I was happy at the club. We are both happy with what has been signed.

"I never had any contact with any other clubs and that never affected me. It was purely a case of: I had been at Middlesbrough for eight years and that was my number one priority."

Middlesbrough's trip to Graz is a journey back to the region of Schwarzer's roots.

Both his parents are from Stuttgart, Germany, which is not far from the border with neighbouring Austria in the south.

Schwarzer, who played for Kaiserslautern in the Bundesliga before moving to England, is looking forward to returning to south-east Europe but is expecting a tough time.

It will be Grazer's first competitive game since their winter break kicked in during December.

And he said: "The break works both ways. They won't have had the problems of playing week in and week out like we have, dealing with suspensions or injuries, but they will have not had the match practice we have had. Nothing beats match fitness and practice."

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