STEVE McCLAREN has finally pledged his future to Middlesbrough by penning a new-four year deal at the Riverside Stadium.

Boro will confirm at a press conference this lunchtime that McClaren has signed the long-term contract which he initially shook hands on back in June.

It brings to an end months of will he-won't he talk as the ambitious England No 2 stalled on completing negotiations while his lawyers examined the terms of the deal.

But today, after an agreement was reached, McClaren will officially announce he has committed himself to the Teesside club until 2009.

He has never hidden his desire to eventually take control of the England team at some stage in his career but this shows he has immediate ambitions of maintaining the progress being made by Boro under his leadership.

The latest deal the 44-year-old, who succeeded Bryan Robson in the summer of 2001, has signed is reportedly worth a staggering £2m-a-year - making him one of the best paid managers in the English game.

The lucrative terms are a reward for the way McClaren has delivered the club's first major piece of silverware since taking charge as well as securing the club's highest Premiership finish last season.

And the news comes just two days before Boro's UEFA Cup trip to AZ Alkmaar, where they need just a point to secure a place in the last 32 of the competition for the second year in a row.

Chairman Steve Gibson recently revealed he is now looking for McClaren to continue the good work he has already done by staying on for another four years at least.

"We have never made any secret of our ambitions and Steve has helped take the club forward. He has the same role to play in our greater success, so I'm pleased we have shaken hands on the deal," he said.

McClaren's initial five-year contract is due to expire before the Germany World Cup next summer and he has been mentioned as a possible successor to Sven-Goran Eriksson after those finals.

But, although there could be clauses in the new contract leaving the door open if such a position cropped up, McClaren has highlighted his determination to oversee the progress being made at the Riverside by signing new terms.

Having squashed speculation surrounding his future, McClaren could now open talks with extending Jimmy-Floyd Hasselbaink's days in the North-East.

The Dutch striker, who scored the winner against Fulham on Sunday, is out of contract next summer and McClaren claims he will have no option but to open talks if his form continues.

"At present he is doing a great job. We will get around to negotiating with players in March, April or May," he said.

"We have brought players to this club who enjoy it here. Jimmy was top-scorer last year and you can see from what he has been saying that he is hungry and motivated to succeed and score goals.

"I have always said I would like Jimmy to sign a new contract if he continues like he is."

Meanwhile, Mark Schwarzer's young understudy believes Australia's No 1 will finally have the chance to prove himself as one of the best around when he plays in the World Cup next summer.

Schwarzer has had more treatment on the shoulder injury that prevented him from playing against Fulham on Sunday, as he bids to recover in time to face AZ Alkmaar on Thursday.

Another opportunity to play in Europe is a further chance for the 33-year-old to showcase his talent on the continental stage, something his career was starved of for the first eight years of his time with Boro.

It is Schwarzer's lack of competing in some of the best tournaments in the world that his club-mate Brad Jones thinks has restricted him from being mentioned in the same breath as some of the game's most high-profile shot-stoppers.

Schwarzer's penalty shoot-out heroics in the play-off with Uruguay last week have ensured the former Bradford man will be boarding the plane with the Socceroos to Germany.

And Jones, who stood in for Schwarzer in the 3-2 win over Fulham on Sunday, is convinced it is the sort of tournament one of the Premiership's most rated deserves to be playing in.

"I wouldn't say Mark has been an under-achiever just that he has never really got the plaudits he deserves," said Jones.

"It's good for him to get to the World Cup, although it's later in his career than he would have wanted.

"There's a fairly big group of goalkeepers who I would consider good. Then there is the odd exception of the Buffons or the Didas. It takes someone special to recognise you in that bracket and I don't think Mark is too far away from those.

"If he was playing in the Champions League every week then his profile would be at a higher level, so getting to the World Cup will help him to make an even bigger name for himself.

"Had he been playing for Italy or Brazil during his career - playing in every World Cup going - I'm sure he would be regarded even higher than he is now."

Jones does not turn 24 until February and has been at Boro since he was 16, shortly after the time Schwarzer was signed by Robson from Bradford.

And Jones feels the more experienced head as helped him to develop a safe pair of hands.

"He has done everything to help me since I arrived," he said. "We have been friends all the way through and because he is ten years older than me he has been able to help me along, while not having too much rivalry.

"He has been there to give me advice, help me through little things and it's been great for me just to be able to watch how he does things."

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