"I'm excited and ready for the challenge," says Town defender Adam Alimi-Adetoro

As an introduction to life in the fifth tier, it'd be about as tough as it gets.

But the prospect of going head-to-head with Barnet's Nicke Kabamba holds about as much dread for the 22-year-old as his trial with Sheffield Wednesday that plucked him from obscurity two years ago.

"I wouldn't say I'm a nervous person, I'm just cool," he says.

The left-footed centre-half is originally from Ireland but grew up in London.

Grew up in more ways than one, only stopping when he reached 6ft 5in.

"I had a growth spurt when I was 17 and shot up," he says.

"So it came quite late on but it is helpful."

Adetoro initially played for Leixlip United in Dublin before his family relocated to London.

"I was just playing Sunday League, just for fun," he recalls.

"Then I moved back to Ireland and started playing the second division.

"I'd known someone in England who used to help me, and he told me Sheffield Wednesday were interested.

"I went there on a trial, played two games for them and they signed me for two years."

There, he worked under first-team boss Daren Moore and under 21s manager Neil Thompson, both of whom had been defenders.

"Very influential, especially Neil," Adetoro says.

"He's very old school but he helped me a lot.

"On the field and off the field, how to go about things day-to-day and just learning from their experience."

Adetoro trained with the first-team fairly regularly during the 2022-23 season.

"Towards the back end of the season, they got a lot of injuries so I trained with them a lot."

Then came his senior debut, off the bench at half-time in the FA Cup fourth round against Fleetwood in February 2023.

"That was a very good experience, an eye-opener, but brilliant," he says.

"I didn't even know I was coming on.

"I was just warming up and I was told to go inside at half-time, which was confusing because normally subs will stay out.

"And then boom, I'm on the pitch.

"It was tough, there's a big difference between men's football and under 21's, but you have to adjust.

"I didn't have time to think about, I just had to adjust, go out and play."

But as he neared two years at Hillsborough, it became apparent more first-team appearances were unlikely to follow.

"I always wanted to stay there but things happen in football and sometimes you've got to move oin, which is the best thing for me and my development, to move on and go elsewhere so I can gain that experience I need," he says.

"In my second year there, I felt I wasn't really getting a sniff, so towards the end, I knew I'd need to find a new club."

And that club was Halifax.

"The moment I spoke to the gaffer, I just knew this was the club for me," he says.

"He broke it down so simply for me, and he just spoke genuinely, from the heart, which I appreciated.

"He was talking about the place, the fans, the day-to-day set-up and the plans moving forward.

"For anyone, if you tell someone about their future and how they see it and you see it, they're going to want to go with that plan."

As for Adetoro's plan, he's confident there's a lot more to come.

"I wouldn't say I have a ceiling," he says. "I'd say the more games I get, the more experience I get over time, I feel like I can get better.

"I'll see how far I can go.

"But it starts here, it starts at Halifax Town and I'm happy to be here

Happy and ready for the National League.

"Yeah, I'd say I am. I'm excited and ready for the challenge," he says.

"I've talked with the gaffer comparing the friendlies to the under 21's.

"I was telling him what I thought the differences were and the first one, boom, straight off the bat, was physicality.

"It's a totally different ball game. Everyone's as big and tall as each other.

"Physically, everyone's in good nick and can battle."

Nicke Kabamba for one.

"As a defender, that's what you live for, those battles with strikers, winning your duels and coming out on top."

Kabamba and his fellow National League strikers might feel confident of doing that against a 22-year-old with one senior appearance under his belt.

"I don't see it like that. They may see it like that, but I don't," he says.

"On the day, when it's time to battle, I'm going to be ready."