By Jake Sanders
GARY Alexander was delighted to see his son George make his first-team debut for Millwall and said there is no limit to what he can achieve in football as long as he continues to work hard.
The 17-year-old replaced the departing Lee Gregory against Wigan Athletic last Sunday, playing the final 23 minutes as the Lions were defeated 1-0 by the Latics in the final game of their season.
Alexander junior had been on the bench twice previously, against Everton in the FA Cup and then the home game against Bristol City in April, but eventually got his opportunity at the DW Stadium.
Gary, who played 94 times for Millwall between 2007 and 2010, was unable to attend the game himself, but was full of praise for his boy.
Alexander said: “It is an amazing achievement. He has been at the club since the age of seven and he’s worked his way through. He has had good years, he has had bad years and he has kept plugging away.
“People have put faith in him, Scott Fitzgerald has seen him. He is still not fully developed, he is still growing, he has still got a lot of growth to come. Once he grows into a mans body hopefully he can have a real good career. What a start to his career, to play from seven all the way through at one club and go and make a first-team debut at the age of 17 is unbelievable.
“He is my boy. He can go and achieve what he wants to achieve in football. It’s all down to how hard you want to work, obviously I can try and advise him, I can try and help him. He has got good people around him, he has got a centre forward as an Under-23s coach, he has got a centre forward as a first-team manager and a centre forward as a dad, so it’s all in place.
“If he keeps asking questions and keeps working hard, who knows what he can achieve. Only he knows. To be at one club from seven to the age of 17 and make a first-team debut, he must want more of that. Hopefully next season he can carry on and you never know what happens. He is obviously in Neil’s thoughts because he has put him in when the space has become available.
“He scores goals, if you score goals you are always going to attract attention. He has scored goals at every level. He was 17, went into the Under-23s, he didn’t play every week, but he nicked a few important goals there and that is all a learning curve and to attract the managers eye – that is what you have to do as a forward, to score goals.
“He works hard, he’ll run channels, he puts himself about and that’s a Millwall type player and I think Neil likes that.”
Image: Millwall FC