WATFORD boss Graham Taylor praised his side's fighting spirit after they fought back from 2-0 down to take maximum points at Ewood last night.

And the Hornets chief now believes his side are ready to mount a serious promotion challenge after getting relegation from the Premier League successfully out of their systems.

"I said when we came back after the summer that we would have to look at our attitude in preseason and then it would take me about 10 games to see if we've got last season out of our system," said Taylor.

"We've now played six games and I think it's pretty obvious to me that we've done that. We knew we were going to be tested and for the first 15 minutes we couldn't get at it because Blackburn were just on top of us. After the second goal went in you then say to yourself 'this is the test now.'

"But they rose to it very well and you never would have said after the opening 15 minutes that the side in yellow was going to be 3-2 up at half time."

"We knew we were going to be under some pressure in the second half because we only had an odd goal lead.

"But once it went to 4-2 then you know it's going to be slightly easier for you."

"Generally speaking, though, I thought we had the rub of the green at times and we defended well.

"We were put under a lot of pressure and it went our way.

"But, having said all that, we shouldn't take anything away from a group of players who found themselves 2-0 down after 15 minutes.

"Their reaction to it was first class."

Taylor refused to be drawn on the referee's performance adding: "Graeme Souness has got his views but one of the things I have learnt is that you literally stay clear of referees. Let them be a law unto themselves."