Wooragee's Alec Mills continues rapid rise in professional soccer with A-League debut

The Wooragee product has gone from playing for Murray United in the second tier of Victorian football to a debut in the A-League last week with Melbourne City.

At just 20 years of age, the talented defender was called upon for the final half an hour of City's clash with Central Coast Mariners and impressed coach Patrick Kisnorbo with his ability to win the ball in one-on-one situations.

It was a tricky time to enter the game for Mills with City reduced to 10 men.

"I had to thank my other centre back (Kerrin Stokes) for getting a red card. I thanked him after the game otherwise I don't think I would have gotten on," Mills laughed.

"It was more relief than nerves. I've been working towards this for a long time.

"'PK' (Kisnorbo) came up to me after the game and said it wasn't the circumstances they wanted me to make my debut in, but they said I handled it well and they were happy with the part I played.

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"Three years ago I was playing at Murray United and now I've made my A-League debut. It really is a dream come true in a short space of time."

Mills found himself matched up against former teammate and Goulburn Valley Suns export Alou Kuol, who leads the league in scoring with five goals.

"I made a tackle on him," Mills said.

"He's just one of those players that is hard to mark. Him and Matt Simon together are probably the best partnership up front in the league.

"I played my part against them and was told I did well.

"I played with Alou at Goulburn Valley Suns, so we knew each other and he congratulated me on the debut."

Mills began to get more opportunities to train with City's A-League squad in the interrupted 2020 season and believes he benefited from the club going into a hub to get this year's competition started.

"I was constantly around the A-League squad last year and all this year which has really helped me," he said.

"Learning from the experience of Curtis Good and marking Jamie Maclaren every training session has helped. He's probably the best striker in the league.

"Curtis and Rostyn Griffiths have been the two key players I've watched at training and Nuno Reis is coming in and he's a world class player from Portugal.

"It's just a learning curve at training, so I want to take in what they do and the help from the coaches as well.

"Before the hub I was in and out, but going into the hub really helped me.

"It was one of the best experiences going away with the elite team for two months and focusing on football and myself."

Mills will continue to work hard on the track for a spot in the travelling squad to take on Western Sydney Wanderers at Bankwest Stadium on Saturday night.

City returns to Melbourne for a grand final rematch with Sydney FC on Tuesday.