The Rovers hierarchy flew to India for week-long meetings with owners Venky’s as preparations for next season were stepped up.

First team boss Tony Mowbray, chief executive Steve Waggott, finance director Mike Cheston and club secretary Ian Silvester travelled to Pune where they held talks with Madame Desai, Jitendra Desai and Balaji Rao.

Rovers are expected to be working with a similar budget as to last season, though there will be a 'flex' option available to Mowbray should he wish to increase money available for transfers at the sacrifice of wages, or vice versa.

Waggott believes recruitment will hold the key to any possible push for the top six next season, with Rovers finishing 15th on 60 points in their first season back in the Championship after promotion in 2017/18.

The club will almost double their investment in the recruitment department in a bid to find the best available talent, which will focus more on the European market.

Speaking to the Lancashire Telegraph, Waggott said: “They were really positive meetings. The owners are fully supportive.

“We met Madame Desai, Mr Desai and Bala, and they are all extremely positive.

“They wanted to discuss the blip in the middle of the season, what can we do better on that front, and Tony gave an explanation on that.

“They follow it very closely. They know where we are, and where we’re trying to get to. There’s no given you can get promoted no matter size of the budget, it’s still difficult to get out of the league.

“But if we can keep building and adding, and Tony can get the squad he needs, then there is a chance we can threaten the top six and have a go this season.”

When asked about the budget for next season, Waggott said: “Similar to what we’ve got this year, which will give us a competitive squad.”

Rovers continue to work under a benefactor model, heavily reliant upon investment from the Rao family who took over in November 2011.

Before the trip to Pune, from which they returned last weekend, Waggott held meetings with each head of department at the club to discuss prospective budgets. Those were then discussed with the owners at length, with Waggott continuing to focus on sustainable growth at Ewood Park.

He added: “We have a budget process that takes a couple of months. We meet all the heads of department internally, all the budget holders, put it all together and then have a board meeting.

“We run through everything, (director) Gandhi Babu flies in from Venky’s, and we go through line by line everything we’re proposing.

“Once there is clarity over that, we fly out to India and go through everything we’re looking at.

“The party consists of me from a club operation point of view, Tony from the football side, Ian Silvester as club secretary comes for any questions on players’ contractual situations, and Mike Cheston comes as the Finance Director.

“We sit down and speak over four days, review the season, how we feel it went, how and why the blips came when they did, and we at all the commercial revenues, what we generated and what we forecast and what we can generate.

“Then we have discussions about what we’re trying to do and the message was about continuing to re-build and kicking on. I’m not saying the league is easier, but the composition of it with Norwich, Sheffield United and Aston Villa going out, and the ones coming down (from the Premier League) and the ones coming up (from League One), that if we can add a few players to the squad that Tony wants, give it more depth, then we’ve got a chance to kick on next year.”

Although Rovers had to wait until the middle of May to learn the exacts of their budget for next season, Waggott doesn’t feel that puts them at any disadvantage.

On the contrary, he feels the face-to-face dialogue with the owners is hugely beneficial.

“No. It’s a great help, far from a hindrance,” said Waggott, who will travel to the EFL meeting in Portugal next week.

“We have owners, as everyone knows, who are quite a few thousand miles away.

“Therefore we have to keep engaging with them and keep them involved. While we can do that over the phone and via email, there’s nothing better than sitting down for four or five days and discussing everything. They can feel our passion and emotion and that we care and want to leave the club in a better shape than when we found it.

“That’s our real mantra.

“Can you get that across on an email? You can, but it’s not the same as a face-to-face meeting with the owners.

“They can feel Tony’s drive and emotion, he wears his heart on his sleeve and puts his point across really well.

“They interrogate me on forecasts, budgets, how we’re doing, how the business world is doing in Blackburn and the surrounding areas, and when you’re sat in front of them they can ask you the supplementary questions.

“From my point of view it’s the trust element, to make sure that we’re spending their money as if it’s our own.”

Mowbray is keen to push towards the top six next season, having seen this campaign fall away in February and March.

And Waggott shares the view that Rovers must look to continue building, not least on the platform this season has given them.

“There’s constant planning, discussion, you can’t stand still in football otherwise you move backwards,” he said.

“We have to keep progressing and keep the dialogue and engagement levels high. We’ve seen other clubs recently who don’t have that support and then it’s freefall time.

“My message is always about stability, steady growth, progression, and rebuilding the club. Tony is doing exactly on the football side.”