Scharner ready for big things next season

The Austrian defender broke the club's Premiership appearance record in the victory over Birmingham last weekend and has been impressive for the club this term.

However after describing Liverpool as a dream move and clearly having high ambitions for himself, it seems as though the former Brann Bergen defender is getting itchy feet.

Either that or he is just looking for a big pay rise as the talk of contract renewals echoes around the JJB Stadium.

Scharner in action against Liverpool earlier this season

Scharner is quoted in the Daily Mail: "I'm happy, but let's have a look at what the future brings, and what the club's targets are. Personally, I am a player who always tries to progress and develop.

"Hopefully, Wigan want to progress into the top half of the table over the next couple of seasons, and if so, then we can talk about everything."

Scharner is not out of contract in the summer but with just one year left on his contract, manager Steve Bruce is likely to want to extend the defender's current deal.

The Austrian however wants guarantees that the club will be pushing on into the top half of the table after being disappointed with the current term.

He added: "Especially with this season because I expected much more than us fighting against relegation. But we're in this position now and we all have to stay together, sort it out, and then let's look at next season."

On the plus side, Bruce only needs to show Scharner the points per game record attained since his arrival in December. AFter a horrendous nine game losing streak, the Latics have picked up enough points under Bruce to drive clear of the relegation zone.

More interestingly, if the points per game under Bruce was extracted to cover the whole season, the Latics would be comfortably in the top half of the table.

However, Scharner is already impressed with Bruce and feels that the former Manchester United skipper can offer a lot to his own deveolpment. Speaking about his mid-season move to centre back, Scharner added: "That is when Steve first saw me play, and why he now plays me in this position.

"He also asked me to play there because he needed help in defence as we were conceding too many goals. So I said 'no problem' and that if the team needed that help then I would be happy to play there.

"When someone like Steve asks you, someone who made his name as a player in the centre of defence, you are not going to argue. I needed a couple of games to build up my confidence, and now I have played 17 or 18 in this position, so I'm really enjoying it. I'm far happier now."