Graham Taylor is planning to meet with Lord Michael Ashcroft in the near future to discuss his plans for the Hornets and claimed he wouldn't have become chairman if he couldn't meet with the club’s major shareholder.

It was announced this week that Watford legend Taylor, pictured, will remain as chairman until June at least, following the resignation of Jimmy Russo on December 15.

The club rejected Russo's proposal to save the club from administration in favour of Lord Ashcroft’s offer to underwrite a forthcoming £7.5m rights issue.

This week Taylor said: "The board split but we have to go on and, basically, what Lord Ashcroft has done is come to the rescue of the club. It's as simple as that.

"What is his [Lord Ashcroft's] interest in football? I can't give you that answer. I don't know what his interest is or how he got involved but I will be meeting Lord Ashcroft.

"And if after meeting him I've got nothing to say it will be because there may be a privacy about it, but this is something that will take place.

"The last thing I would do is become the chairman of Watford Football Club and never meet the major shareholder. I wouldn't have taken the job if that was so."

Taylor believes a number of football clubs have forgotten what their core business is and is keen for Watford to ensure they have a side which will be competitive in the Championship.

He said: "Yes, the financial position is difficult and there's no doubt we've been rescued to a degree but we’ve got to make sure we can give the football side of things the priority that it should be receiving. That's why we're in business.

"Our supporters come to watch their football team play and we've all got to make sure Malky [Mackay] gets as much support as is possible from the football club. He's aware of that and he will get that in exactly the same way that I got it all those years ago, but what we can't do at the present time is hand him large amounts of money. We have to play the transfer market as cutely as we can."

Taylor took Watford from the fourth division into European football in the 1980s and went on to manage England.

Mackay said: "It is absolutely fantastic to have a chairman that has been around the football business for an awful long time and knows his way around football.

"He knows the value of the club in terms of what it means to the local community and obviously has a lot of great personal memories of this football club.

"It is great that he is on board and is working closely with Julian Winter [chief executive] and myself and it is great to have his backing and his support and I'm sure everybody at the football club feels the same."