MARCUS Bignot says Guiseley can only reap the rewards from his appointment onto the England coaching staff.

The former QPR defender has been named as one of two specialist coaches for the nation's Under-18s side, working under head coach Ian Foster this season.

Bignot has just returned from helping to oversee an unbeaten start to his time with England as they hosted a mini-tournament. This saw England grab a 2-0 win over Korea Republic, a 1-1 draw with Brazil and a 3-2 victory against Australia, all played during the recent international break.

His appointment is part of the next phase of an Elite Coach Placement Programme working across England men’s teams throughout this season. The programme initially rolled out in 2018 to help solve the challenge of under-representation of black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) coaches.

Now back preparing for Guiseley's home FA Cup second qualifying round clash with Stockton Town on Saturday (3pm kick-off), Bignot says the Lions can take positives out of his new job share.

The 45-year-old said: "It's been great. "I got all of the encouragement I needed to put my name forward. I had to go for an interview. I'm pleased I got the role.

"It is a massive honour to be able to work for the country and work for the Football Association.

"For my career point of view it is a really good opportunity to gather a whole lot of knowledge and can be a springboard for me.

"I've been blessed to have stayed in football since the day I left school.

"To have this opportunity is something I'm going to embrace.

"I want to go in there and impact it and effect and it to be productive. It was a very enjoyable camp. We played three different games.

"I'm now working on the world stage. I am working with players from the best teams in the country.

"We will assess where we go after the season. The international games go into the summer.

"The work and time spent with England can only benefit the club. I'm coming back a better coach with better knowledge and what that can bring.

"I can see it having plenty of positives for Guiseley.

"We are after producing our own, people can see the direction we are going in. A younger group."

Meanwhile, Bignot says he hopes Guiseley can reproduce last year's exploits in the sport's oldest competition, when they reached the second round last year, losing 2-1 to League One side Fleetwood Town.

But he is wary of any potential cup run harming his side's league form.

He added: "Everyone knows about the success we got last year in the FA Cup. It only brought attention to the football club and helped us financially.

"It had an effect on our league form. We have got to get the benefit right and learn from it."

Away from their cup exploits, Guiseley are fourth in Vanarama National League North following a 3-0 victory over Hereford, which included an Aaron Martin hat-trick.

Bignot added: "The encouraging thing was that even though we won 3-0 we were disappointed in our performance."