A woman dragged into a laneway and assaulted after getting off a tram in Brunswick in the early hours of Wednesday has spoken out in a bid to catch her attacker.

Investigators from the sexual crime squad have released CCTV footage of a man they are searching for over the attack in Melbourne's inner north.

The woman, identified as April and aged in her 30s, believes she was lucky to escape.

"This man didn't manage to do what he wanted to do, but there was clear intent," she said on Friday as part of a police appeal for information.

April had got on the route 6 tram in the city at 11.50pm on Tuesday and disembarked at Lygon Street.