City recruit Wilkinson hoping to debut in Melbourne derby

Melbourne City defender Alex Wilkinson is desperate to make his debut against rivals Melbourne Victory in the upcoming derby.

Wilkinson, 31, was unveiled as a City player on Tuesday, just days out from Saturday’s A-League showdown with Victory at AAMI Park.

Third-placed City and defending champions Victory are level on 28 points.

And the 16-time Australia international – back in the A-League for the first time since leaving Central Coast Mariners in 2012 – is hoping to make an immediate impression this weekend, if given the opportunity.

“I’m very excited to be down here and I have my short term future sorted so the sooner the better for me,” Wilkinson told reporters. “I want to be involved straight away.

“I’ve watched a lot of the derbies on TV. I’ve never been to one live so it’d be a huge game to be involved in and a very important game for us. Obviously it’d be great to get a win and if I could be involved in it, it would be fantastic.

“I trained with all the boys who were not involved in the game [on Sunday] and the way they set it up, they mirrored the session to be similar to the exertion in a game so it was a reasonably tough.

“I came through it pretty well and now I’m looking forward to the session today, tomorrow and the rest of the week.”