Schwarzer calls for focus

Mark Schwarzer is confident Fulham can maintain their form as they look to cement their place.

Fulham keeper hoping for more of the same/h3> Fulham goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer is confident his side can maintain their good form as they look to cement their place in the top half of the table. As 2008 comes to an end manager Roy Hodgson has turned the Cottagers from relegation candidates to European challengers. The club currently occupy ninth place and another three points from their game in hand could see them rise to seventh. It is all a far cry from the final day of last season when Hodgson took his side to Portsmouth with his club's Premier League status in the balance. The former Inter Milan and Blackburn boss has built a solid side with little or no money at his disposal. One of the players to arrive in the summer was Australian keeper Schwarzer who has made the No.1 position his own. "So far things are going really well," he explained. "We have just got to make sure we continue the momentum and not get too carried away or ahead of ourselves.

Opportunity

"We are now 14 points away from being safe, that is how I look at it at the moment. We have got to get those points as quickly as possible and then we can start looking higher up the table." Fulham travel to Championship side Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday in the third round of the FA Cup and Schwarzer is keen to have a good run in the competition and help the club to their first final appearance since 1975. "We are taking it very seriously," he told the club's official website. "The FA Cup gives you an opportunity to try and qualify for Europe and win a major trophy. "It is the No.1 cup competition in the world. I have been fortunate enough to have been involved in some very good FA Cup runs, they are great fun and we need to continue our form. "We saw the final last year being between Portsmouth and Cardiff, I don't think anyone would have put money on that being the final at the start of the season. "Or even that two Championship sides would be in the semi-final. So it's open for everyone."