Marlon Hairston knew the 2016 MLS season would be a big one for him, just not in the way he intended. The 22-year-old was entering the final year of his contract with Colorado Rapids, and it could best be described as a make-or-break season for him.

“I was hungry coming into pre-season,” Hairston told Yahoo Sport UK via telephone. “I wanted to be part of the group. My first year in the league I probably played just over twenty or so games. I was more of a substitute though, coming in for odd minutes.

“Last year I had a few setbacks. I dislocated my shoulder so I was out a few months with that. When I finally did come back I went out on loan to try and get some more minutes in. I had to decline a couple of national team call-ups because of injury last year too. That really disappointed me. Once I did get healthy again I did pretty well. After my loan to our affiliate team, I came back and I just wanted to try and show the coaches that I wanted to be here, and that if I was given the opportunity I would try to make the most of it.”

Hairston not only fashioned an opportunity for starts with Colorado, but he became a mainstay of the side. His own individual form paralleled the rise of the Rapids in what is a competitive Western Conference, (only one of the last five MLS Cup winners have hailed from the Eastern Conference). Heading into the final week of the season the club is battling for top spot in their conference, and as a consequence, the Supporters’ Shield.

From bottom of their table to near the top, it begs the obvious question, what changed? “It starts from additions in the staff along with the players that we’ve added also,” Hairston said. “The last couple of years that I’ve been here it hasn’t been the best of years for results, but I think as a group we all knew we were a couple of changes away from being a really good club.

“One of our biggest goals was to make the playoffs, because we haven’t made the playoffs in the last couple of years. Everybody just came in with a different mentality. The players we brought in means there are a lot of players with big pedigrees. They played at the highest levels, and these guys have helped lead this group to the point where we’re at now.”

Acknowledging the influence of players like Tim Howard, Jermaine Jones, Shkëlzen Gashi and Kevin Doyle, Hairston cannot fail to note the change in the group’s mentality. Much has been made of Pablo Mastroeni’s evolution as a coach, which in turn has bled over onto the playing staff.

“Our motto is to keep fighting,” Hairston said. “We all have been working as a group since the season began. We all knew that everybody was accountable for each other, and that we would be able to hold ourselves to a high standard and accomplish a lot this season. To come from the bottom of our conference the last two years to have a real go at the Supporters’ Shield has surprised a lot of people. We knew people were always going to doubt us because of our record, and so we knew we’d have to go out and fight for it.”

Fighting for a chance is something Hairston has been doing most of his life. Born in Jackson, Mississippi, it is an all together different type of football that dominates The Magnolia State.

“Mississippi is definitely different,” he said. “In the sense of where I’m from, soccer isn’t the main sport. It’s more basketball or American Football. I started playing soccer when I was 3-years-old, but it was just something to do. Growing up in the inner city it was something to keep the kids out of the street. I wanted to be a college soccer player but at the time I thought it was a lofty dream. I enjoyed watching professional soccer, but I never thought it could be a career for me. Looking back on the last four or five years has been fun. To continue growing as a person and a player, you continue to do things you didn’t know were achievable.”

Listening to the 22-year-old, there is a clear humility and sincerity in his words. Well liked by both his teammates and the coaching staff, Hairston is now starting to dream a little bit bigger. A United States youth international, there have been tentative suggestions that he could be called up for Jürgen Klinsmann’s January training camp. “A national team call-up is definitely something I’m aiming for in the near future,” he said, adding that he also dreams of maybe one day playing in Europe.

Story continues