MARK Schwarzer's five-year career at Fulham appears to be over, with the veteran keeper revealing that his club future is on the verge of being resolved.

Out of contract at the end of the month, Schwarzer has refused to ink a new deal, insisting he wants to be guaranteed the No.1 position before signing.



Fulham is believed to be close to signing Dutch World Cup keeper Maarten Stekelenburg from Roma, who almost signed in January, leaving little doubt about Schwarzer's status at the London club.



Schwarzer played 39 times for Fulham last season and has made 172 appearances since signing from Middlesbrough in 2008.



But Schwarzer, who turns 41 in October, said playing regularly was his priority in a World Cup season.



"I'm fully focused on the Socceroos first and foremost and I'm confident my club situation will resolve itself one way or the other," Schwarzer said.



"Something will be sorted out, I've got no worries about, in the near future.



"I've got no idea at this stage where I'm going to be so I'm open to anything.



"The key is playing week in, week out. That's always the key regardless of what position you play."



Fulham manager Martin Jol said at the end of the season that he couldn't guarantee Schwarzer the No.1 shirt in 2013-14.



"We offered Mark a new contract, but the only thing is he wanted to be guaranteed to be the No.1, and that is not easy as we need a goalkeeper anyway," Jol said last month.



"We don't know what will happen to (back up) David Stockdale and he does not want to be the No.2. He wants to be No.1 as well and that is the problem.



"You have to compete and fight for your place. He wants almost a guarantee to be No.1, but if we cannot find a solution we need to get a very good goalkeeper because you need to be very good to be better than, or the same, as him."



Schwarzer will win his 106th Australian cap tomorrow night at Saitama Stadium and said the Socceroos have worked hard on not conceding early against Japan.



"We know that going behind makes it a difficult task to try and get back in the game, so we need to try not to concede first and try to be the ones who set the pace," he said.



"There's been a lot of work done on it, the sessions have been very intense and it's been very effective and very constructive.



"Everyone understands what's at stake and the training's been very intense and the guys have been fully focused on the job at hand."

