China announced a growth target of 7.5% and revealed plans to raise its defence budget by 12.2%, as it opened its annual parliament session in Beijing.

Premier Li Keqiang said that economic development was the central task of the government, but "painful structural adjustments" were needed.
Japan voiced concern at the defence move, citing a "lack of transparency".
Mr Li also pledged to "declare war" on pollution, fight corruption "without mercy", and "crack down" on terrorism.
The congress marks one year since Xi Jinping was confirmed as president.
The 10-day meeting of around 3,000 legislators from delegations across China began on Wednesday.
China describes the National People's Congress (NPC) as the country's "supreme organ of state power". It has the power to enact and amend legislation. In practice, it is generally considered a rubber stamp for the ruling Communist Party.
As parliament opened Premier Li Keqiang presented a work report highlighting targets for China's economy this year.
He said that the government's "work got off to a good start" but admitted that "there are still many problems that people are unhappy about".
"Painful structural adjustments need to be made" in China's development, he said, though economic growth would remain stable.
According to the speech, the government will aim to keep inflation at about 3.5%, while boosting domestic growth and carrying out "people-centred urbanisation".
By John SudworthBBC News, Beijing
When will China surprise with real change?
The growth and inflation targets were widely expected. The growth rate target in 2013 was also 7.5%.
Correspondents say the fact that the growth target for 2014 has not changed will lead some to question how serious China is about embracing economic reforms, which would involve lowering the growth rate.
According to Mr Li's speech, reforms were the "top priority" for the government and had entered "a critical stage".
"We must rely on the people, break mental shackles and vested interests with determination as great as a warrior cutting his wrist, and deepen reforms in all fronts."
Implementing reforms to tackle local government debt was also expected to be a priority.
The latest military budget boost comes amid tensions between China and many of its neighbours, including Japan and the Philippines, over disputed territories.
The increased budget will see military spending rise to just over $131bn this year (808 bn yuan).
China has consistently announced double-digit increases to its official military budget in recent years. Analysts say its total military spend may in fact be higher.
However, China points out it that it spends far less on defence than the United States.
China has also accused Japan of failing to adequately address its actions in World War Two.
In Wednesday's speech, Mr Li said: "We will safeguard the victory of World War Two and the post-war international order, and will not allow anyone to reverse the course of history."
By Celia HattonBBC News, Beijing
The 10 years of rule under China's former leader, Hu Jintao, is sometimes referred to as the country's "lost decade". Mr Hu, a famously cautious leader, did little to address China's eye-wateringly long list of challenges.
The spread of toxic pollution and China's debt-ridden shadow banking sector are two of the most serious problems.
But China's inertia appeared to shift last November, when the country's new leader, Xi Jinping, introduced an ambitious master plan to overhaul China's economy, its blueprint for development and its social structures. China's parliament will push forward with those reforms.
The Communist Party drafts legislation that is presented to parliamentary delegates. There is very little chance the party's proposals will not be approved, though sometimes, they are debated with vigour.
Does it matter to anyone outside China if Mr Xi's reforms aren't enacted?
Well, yes. If Beijing fails to address its problems in a timely way, they could push the country towards a crisis on several fronts. China's economy could stumble, affecting the livelihoods of one-fifth of the world's population.
And lest we forget, China's problems are not confined to its borders. Smog already darkens the skies of China's neighbours. One failing bank can have a domino effect on scores of others.
China's so-called "rubber stamp parliament" probably won't elicit any nail-biting surprises. But it will give us an indication of whether Xi Jinping's bold new reforms are on track to change China for the better.
Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters on Wednesday the lack of transparency in China's defence policy had "become a matter of concern for the international community, including Japan".
Issues such as targeting corruption and the environment are also on the agenda at the National People's Congress.
President Xi Jinping has launched a high-profile crackdown against corruption since coming to power last year.
In his speech Mr Li admitted the toxic smog hanging over many Chinese cities was "nature's red light warning against the model of inefficient and blind development".
"We will declare war against pollution and fight it with the same determination we battled poverty," he said.
In many urban areas, including Beijing, pollution levels routinely exceed the safety limits set by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Security at the congress was tight in the wake of a mass stabbing attack at a railway station in Kunming, south-west China.
Eight attackers stabbed people at the station at random on Saturday, killing 29 and wounding more than 130.
Delegates held a moment of silence for the victims of the attack as the NPC opened.
Officials have blamed separatists from Xinjiang - which is home to the Muslim Uighur minority - for the attack.
On Wednesday morning, two protesters were dragged away from Tiananmen Square, near the venue for the NPC, by policemen. It is not clear what they were protesting about.


GB Taekwondo chiefs say they "had reservations" but "understand" double Olympic champion Jade Jones' decision to take part in Channel 4's The Jump.

The programme involves competitors learning to ski jump, and the last series saw several serious injuries.
Gymnast Louis Smith and Paralympic cyclist and athlete Kadeena Cox will also take part in the new series.
GB Taekwondo says it has has held "extensive" talks with Jones about the risks involved.
The 23-year-old from north Wales is set to compete in taekwondo's World Championships later this year.
She, Rio silver medallist Smith, and Cox, who won gold in both her disciplines at the Rio Paralympics, all receive funding from UK Sport to help them train for their respective events.
Jones will still receive her full UK Sport funding during her time on the programme, while Cox will not.
British Gymnastics has not yet responded to BBC Sport's request for a comment.
A GB Taekwondo spokesperson said: "While we had our reservations, we understand Jade's desire to try new challenges and to take part in this show. We have held extensive discussions with Jade and her management and she is aware of the risks involved.
"She has made an informed decision to take part in the show and has ensured that The Jump and its production company has all the requisite cover and medical provision is in place."
Former Olympic heptathlete Louise Hazel, who finished second in the 2015 series after retiring from athletics, told BBC Radio 5 live that she was surprised current athletes were considering taking part in the show.
"As an athlete you are always looking for the next thrill but I would advise them to withdraw," she said.
"For those athletes who have retired it is OK to take a risk, but for those still in sport this could easily turn into a career-ending injury.
"As a participant you know there is an element of risk, but there was a part of me seeking that out and it is a calculated risk. The question is whether people know the full extent of the risk before signing up."
In the show's previous editions, Olympic gymnast Beth Tweddle needed surgery to have fractured vertebrae fused together after she was injured in training, while double gold medal winning swimmer Rebecca Adlington suffered a shoulder injury.
Former Holby City actress Tina Hobley sustained knee, shoulder and arm injuries and has only recently stopped using crutches and Made In Chelsea star Mark-Francis Vandelli broke his ankle.
In addition, athlete Linford Christie pulled a hamstring, ex-EastEnders actor Joe Swash chipped a bone in his shoulder, Girls Aloud star Sarah Harding injured a ligament and model Heather Mills hurt her knee and thumb.
Channel 4 says there has been a "thorough review of safety procedures" before this year's series.
Jones, who was named BBC Cymru Wales Sports Personality 2016 after going through the year unbeaten, is scheduled to take part in the World Championships in South Korea in June, aiming to claim the only major international title that has eluded her so far.
Cox, 25, does not have a major cycling event this year, with no Para-cycling Track World Championships officially confirmed, but she would be expected to take part in the Para-Athletics World Championships in London in July.
Also among the competitors are retired Olympic cycling champion and Tour de France winner Sir Bradley Wiggins, former rugby players Jason Robinson and Gareth Thomas, and ex-Liverpool and England striker Robbie Fowler.


A late David Gray header saw Hibernian beat Rangers to end a tortuous 114-year wait to lift the Scottish Cup.

Anthony Stokes scored twice for Hibs, either side of goals from Kenny Miller and Andy Halliday.
Then Gray headed in the winner before Hibs celebrated a timeless triumph.
Hibs fans spilled onto the pitch in their thousands after the final whistle, with some running towards the Rangers end, where pockets of supporters broke to confront them.
Players and match officials were caught up in the pitch invasion, which eventually saw mounted police enter the pitch.
Chief executive Stewart Regan said the Scottish Football Association was "appalled by the scenes of disorder and the contemptible behaviour" following the cup final.
Both sides had to leave the field, with Rangers given their medals in the dressing room and Hibs waiting for the pitch to be cleared before they could emerge to collect the trophy.
The Hibs players had began as though the manager's instructions were constantly ringing in their ears. The strategy was that the three centre-backs would stifle the corridors of space that Rangers look to exploit in attack, while heavy pressing would disrupt the rhythm of Mark Warburton's side.
The planning would have been meticulous, but an immediate advantage would not have been anticipated. There was a committed intent that enthused Hibs' play. It was evident in the way that Stokes clattered into Jason Holt in the first minute, but also in the way the striker drove into the Rangers penalty area before expertly placing a shot beyond Wes Foderingham.
Rangers' players were immediately subdued, although some might have been feeling an element of culpability. Halliday and James Tavernier had failed to win the ball from John McGinn, while Rob Kiernan allowed Stokes the time and space to measure his options.
Stokes naturally tends to drift out to the left, but the instinct would have been encouraged by Stubbs since the space between Tavernier and Kiernan is the most vulnerable area of the Rangers defence. Cummings and Stokes both made inroads, but the extent of Rangers' unease could be measured by the raggedness of their play.
Passes went astray and possession was cheaply discarded, which would have infuriated Warburton when his entire philosophy is based on taking care of the ball. Resourcefulness can be prized, though, and it was a departure from their short passing game that brought Rangers level.
Foderingham's kick up field was won by Miller, allowing Barrie McKay to gather possession and carry the ball across the field. When he found Tavernier, the full-back immediately swept a cross into the box from deep, and Miller leapt ahead of the Hibs defender Darren McGregor to plant a header past Conrad Logan.
Flaws made the game exhilarating. The defending was so inept at times that opportunities were inevitable. Stokes sent an effort bouncing off the post, then Miller won another header inside the Hibs penalty area and his effort cannoned off the crossbar.
Stokes was irrepressible at times, at least when faced with Tavernier, who had little answer to the forward's runs. Stokes cut inside the full-back early in the second half, but his effort was pushed away by Foderingham. That was a feature of the rest of the game, but it was Rangers who dredged up the guile to take the lead.
Halliday was allowed the room to shape to shoot, around 25 yards out, but his effort was fierce, true and flew past Logan into the far side of the net. The onus, then, was on Hibs to respond, and the players found the means to regather themselves.
The introduction of Liam Henderson made an impact, not least because of his set-piece deliveries. From one, Stokes muscled Tavernier aside to head in at the near post. It was from another corner kick, again from Henderson, that Gray scored his historic, momentous goal, before surging off towards the fans to celebrate.
Match ends, Rangers 2, Hibernian 3.
Second Half ends, Rangers 2, Hibernian 3.
Foul by Dean Shiels (Rangers).
Dylan McGeouch (Hibernian) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Goal!  Rangers 2, Hibernian 3. David Gray (Hibernian) header from the centre of the box to the top left corner. Assisted by Liam Henderson with a cross following a corner.
Corner,  Hibernian. Conceded by Wes Foderingham.
Attempt saved. Anthony Stokes (Hibernian) left footed shot from the left side of the box is saved in the bottom right corner.
Corner,  Rangers. Conceded by Niklas Gunnarsson.
Substitution, Hibernian. Niklas Gunnarsson replaces Paul Hanlon.
Goal!  Rangers 2, Hibernian 2. Anthony Stokes (Hibernian) header from the centre of the box to the top right corner. Assisted by Liam Henderson with a cross following a corner.
Corner,  Hibernian. Conceded by Danny Wilson.
Jason Holt (Rangers) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Liam Henderson (Hibernian).
Attempt missed. Anthony Stokes (Hibernian) right footed shot from the centre of the box is too high.
Substitution, Rangers. Nicky Clark replaces Martyn Waghorn.
Foul by Dean Shiels (Rangers).
Paul Hanlon (Hibernian) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Andy Halliday (Rangers) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Dylan McGeouch (Hibernian).
Substitution, Hibernian. Liam Henderson replaces Liam Fontaine.
Lee Wallace (Rangers) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Foul by James Keatings (Hibernian).
Attempt missed. Anthony Stokes (Hibernian) left footed shot from the left side of the box is close, but misses the top left corner.
Attempt missed. Anthony Stokes (Hibernian) right footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses the top left corner.
Jason Holt (Rangers) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Lewis Stevenson (Hibernian).
Substitution, Hibernian. James Keatings replaces Jason Cummings.
Goal!  Rangers 2, Hibernian 1. Andy Halliday (Rangers) left footed shot from outside the box to the top right corner. Assisted by Barrie McKay.
Lee Wallace (Rangers) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Foul by Anthony Stokes (Hibernian).
Substitution, Rangers. Dean Shiels replaces Gedion Zelalem.
Fraser Fyvie (Hibernian) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Gedion Zelalem (Rangers) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Fraser Fyvie (Hibernian).
Andy Halliday (Rangers) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Anthony Stokes (Hibernian).
Attempt missed. Martyn Waghorn (Rangers) header from the right side of the box is high and wide to the right.
Attempt missed. Liam Fontaine (Hibernian) header from the centre of the box misses to the right following a set piece situation.
James Tavernier (Rangers) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Foul by James Tavernier (Rangers).


Myanmar opened its first stock exchange on Wednesday, despite having no companies listed until next year.

Six groups have been approved, but delays in confirming underwriters pushed back the timeframe for listings.
The Yangon Stock Exchange is housed in a newly restored colonial-era building.
It underlines Myanmar's drive to revitalise its economy, following the victory by Aung San Suu Kyi's pro-democracy party in elections last month.
The lack of active trading did not stop officials from screening a mock-up of the stock exchange for guests.
The companies to be listed include the Japan-backed Thilawa Special Economic Zone and First Myanmar Investment run by tycoon Serge Pun.
Vice-President Nyan Tun, who rang the opening bell, said he hoped the bourse would become a regional player.
David Grayson, chief executive of New York-based brokerage Auerbach Grayson, said there was strong interest from investors in Myanmar and it was a positive sign that officials had promoted their plans for the market abroad.
Deputy finance minister Muang Muang Thien met financial institutions and other investors in New York in October and visited the New York Stock Exchange's trading floor.
However, Mixo Das, an analyst with Nomura in Singapore, said the bourse would need to build a track record of good governance, trading history and market liquidity.
"I think the stock exchange in Myanmar will be much like the ones in Laos or Cambodia - more as a source of national pride and learning experience for the first several years," he said.
The bourse in Laos has just two companies listed, while Cambodia's stock exchange has attracted just one.
Rajiv Biswas, of IHS Global Insight, said the exchange would help develop the country's financial system, with the listing of larger banks and companies promising to help set up equity and pension funds.
It could also help a new government, run by Ms Suu Kyi and her party, privatise some state-owned enterprises, he added.
Myanmar has been under military rule for about half a century and faces challenges including rampant corruption, a murky legal system, dismal infrastructure and a widespread distrust of the financial system.
The country of 51 million people has abundant natural resources and is well positioned between India, China and southeast Asia.


Peterborough have signed Barnsley midfielder George Moncur and Tottenham goalkeeper Luke McGee and winger Nathan Oduwa on loan until January.

Moncur, 23, turned down the chance to join Posh this summer to move to the Tykes from Colchester for a fee believed to be about £500,000.
But he has made two appearances for Barnsley so far and has been allowed to leave on loan.
Neither McGee or Oduwa, both 20 have made a Spurs first-team appearance.
However, Oduwa has had loans at Luton, Rangers and Colchester, while McGee comes in following the release of keeper Ben Alnwick from his Posh contract because of "family and geographical reasons".
Find all the latest football transfers on our dedicated page..


Researchers at Google say they are “years closer” to rolling out a network of huge balloons to provide connectivity to rural areas.

The Project Loon team, part of the company’s X research lab, said it was now able to use machine learning to predict weather systems.
It means the firm has far greater control over where its balloons go, making it possible to focus on a specific region, rather than circumnavigating the globe.
Clustering a small number of balloons greatly reduces the cost of the idea, Google’s “captain of moonshots”, Astro Teller, told reporters.
"We can now run an experiment and try to give service in a particular place in the world with ten, twenty or thirty balloons,” he said, rather than the hundreds needed previously.
“Real users” will be able to use the system in the “coming months”, he added - but he did not specify where the initial roll out would take place.
Rural ambition
Google’s aim is to provide connectivity to the around four billion people in the world who do not have access to the internet, particularly those in difficult-to-reach rural areas.
Rather than undertake huge construction projects to replicate connectivity networks in the developed world, the firm has instead experimented with beaming down connectivity from a network of huge, tennis-court sized balloons.
The balloons float in the stratosphere around 11 miles high. By raising or lowering altitude, the balloons can be caught in different weather streams, changing direction.
By using machine-learning algorithms, Google thinks it has cracked a way to predict weather with enough accuracy to make it possible to hover balloons over a relatively small area for a long period of time.
Last last year the firm was able to keep a cluster of balloons over Peru for three months.
Spin off
Over the past year Google has come under increasing pressure from its shareholders to rein in the costs of its more outlandish ideas.
Last month, the firm has spun off its self-driving project into a new company - Waymo - and has stepped up attempts to commercialise the technology amid criticism it was taking too long to make money from its work.
Mr Teller said Project Loon was one of the more “mature” moonshot ideas at the company, but while it was entering into contracts with telecoms firms, Google was in “no rush” to make Project Loon a stand-alone business.
“The service has a much better chance of being profitable which is obviously exciting for us,” he said.
"Things have gone much better than we anticipated they could go. That has made the prospects of Loon even better than we had anticipated.”
Falling out of the sky
One key hurdle for the company to overcome is the reliability of its balloons. To date, the record for continuous balloon flight has been 190 days.
At a research lab within Google’s campus in Mountain View, California, development teams painstakingly analyse each failed balloons on a huge scanner nicknamed “Billie Jean” owning to light panels reminiscent of the illuminating pavement in Michael Jackson’s iconic music video.
Other technologies trying to achieve similar goals have been tested by Google and others. The company recently shut down Project Titan, an effort to use solar-powered drones to deliver connectivity to a wide area. The programme was cancelled owing to economic and technology difficulties, the company said.
Facebook has attempted to work with similar technology. It’s Project Aquila drone, which is being developed in the UK, suffered a major setback when one of its craft crashed last June.
On the challenge facing Project Loon, Mr Teller admitted that many at the company did not think it would ever actually work.
“If we’d known how hard it was going to be, we probably never would have tried,” he wrote in a blog post published on Thursday.
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Police are to exhume a family grave in the search for the body of a schoolgirl who disappeared in 1957.

Moira Anderson vanished aged 11 during a trip to the shops in Coatbridge.
Bus driver and convicted child rapist Alexander Gartshore, who died in 2006, has been linked to her disappearance, which police are treating as murder.
On Thursday, a sheriff granted a request from Moira's relatives to open a grave at the Old Monkland cemetery where they believe she is buried.
Police will now search the family plot of Sinclair Upton, an acquaintance of Gartshore's, in a bid to draw the 55-year mystery to a close.
A spokeswoman for Strathclyde Police said: "Following a court hearing, Strathclyde Police has been instructed to undertake an exhumation of a burial plot within Old Monkland Cemetery.
"A detailed strategy, endorsed by the Crown Office, has been prepared.
"This process is expected to take several days and will involve highly skilled personnel trained in the techniques required for this type of work.
"This is a very sensitive issue and we have been liaising with the families to ensure they are kept informed."
Moira went missing after getting on a bus as she ran an errand to the Co-op for her family.
Her body was never found and Scotland's Lord Advocate Frank Mulholland ordered cold case detectives to reopen the case as a murder earlier this year.
Gartshore's daughter Sandra Brown has written a book detailing her suspicions that her late father was Moira's killer.
Moira's sister Janet Hart, who lives in Australia, launched a petition to get Mr Upton's grave exhumed, believing that Gartshore may have dumped her body there in the days before Mr Upton was laid to rest.


A man has suffered facial burns in what is described as a "powder explosion" at a factory in Staffordshire.

The blast was at Adams Food on Sunnyhills Road in Leek at about 08:20 BST, said Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service.
The man was discharged after treated at the Royal Stoke University Hospital.
Powder explosions are caused by a high concentration of powdered combustible material in the air coming into contact with a heat source.
Examples of dusts in the food industry which could could be linked to explosions included flour, custard powder, instant coffee, sugar, dried milk, potato powder and soup powder, said the Health and Safety Executive.
A spokesman for Adams Food said: "There was an incident at our production facility in Leek this morning.
"A member of staff working on the production line received minor injuries. Emergency services were called and the incident is now fully under control with all other production lines operating as normal."


Cristiano Ronaldo scored and was then sent off as Real Madrid beat Barcelona 3-1 in the Spanish Super Cup first leg.

Gerard Pique slid Marcelo's cross into his own net before Lionel Messi levelled with a penalty.
Ronaldo, who was a substitute, restored Real's lead when he ran from halfway before smashing an effort home.
He was booked for taking off his shirt to celebrate and shown a second yellow shortly after for a dive - before Marco Asensio scored Real's excellent third.
Ronaldo felt he should have had a penalty when he went down under pressure from Samuel Umtiti, and appeared to shove the referee in the back after he was shown the red card.
Real host Barca in Wednesday's second leg at 22:00 BST.
Even for a player who has been so prominent in El Clasico contests, the 24 minutes Ronaldo spent on the pitch were unusually eventful.
Having started on the bench, as he did for the Uefa Super Cup win over Manchester United, he was introduced in the 58th minute with his side leading 1-0.
He watched on as Messi levelled the scores before scoring a typically brilliant goal himself, cutting inside and curling home an unstoppable effort from the edge of the box.
To celebrate, he removed his shirt and flexed his muscles, earning himself a booking.
Two minutes later, he tumbled in the box after going shoulder to shoulder with Umtiti, for which he was shown a second yellow card.
Barca had 10 minutes to find another equaliser, but 10-man Real struck again as Asensio added to his growing reputation with a superb strike into the top corner from 25 yards.
The 21-year-old has now scored on his La Liga, Copa del Rey, Champions League, Uefa Super Cup and Spanish Super Cup debuts for Real.
Having broken up their famed 'MSN' strike-force through the summer-sale of Neymar to Paris St-Germain for £200m, Barcelona started Gerard Deulofeu in attack alongside Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez.
As his predecessor on the left wing made a goal-scoring start to life in France, former Everton player Deulofeu struggled to make a compelling case to be the Brazilian's long-term replacement in Spain.
He had one glorious chance to make an impression but wasted it, firing a shot across goal and wide from inside the box. He was replaced by Denis Suarez shortly after.
If Barca have their way, Deulofeu will soon find himself down the pecking order, possibly behind Philippe Coutinho.
The need for attacking reinforcements at the Nou Camp is obvious. Messi and Suarez were lively and combined for the penalty - the Uruguayan winning it, when he tumbled easily under a challenge from Real keeper Keylor Navas, with the Argentine converting.
But elsewhere it is a mix of lesser talent and young potential not yet ready to play such a major role for a side with lofty ambition at home and abroad.
Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane: "We played a great game but I am annoyed by Cristiano's sending-off.
"Perhaps it wasn't a penalty but the red card is a little harsh. We can't change it, but we'll try and make sure he plays on Wednesday."
Barcelona boss Ernesto Valverde said: "I don't have the sensation we were as far away from them as the scoreline suggests. They scored three times, but we played well and had our chances.
"They caught us on the counter-attack when it was 1-1 and scored a great goal, and then another one. But it's not just about getting into the danger zone - it's about putting your chances away."


Leicestershire's Neil Dexter was finally dismissed for 136 on a rain-hit second day against Gloucestershire.

The all-rounder added 29 to his overnight 107 not out before a superb slip catch by Chris Dent ended his 86-run stand with Clint McKay.
Australian McKay raced to a 47-ball half-century before he miscued Liam Norwell (4-72) and was caught for 55.
The home side were eventually all out  for 334 and Gloucestershire replied with 69-0 before bad weather arrived.
Only 45.3 overs were bowled in the day, with Dent 34 not out and Gareth Roderick on 23 not out when the umpires took the players off the field in mid-afternoon.
And umpires Steve Garratt and Nigel Cowley abandoned play for the day just before 17:00 BST.
Meanwhile, Leicestershire's elite development coach Keith Piper has left the club by mutual consent for family reasons.
Leicestershire's on-loan seam bowler Richard Jones told BBC Radio Leicester:
"It's good to be back. It's a great opportunity for myself to be playing some competitive cricket.
"It went pretty well for me today, I'd obviously have liked a wicket or two, but I felt ok.
"It's pretty placid, and seems to be getting slower, but it's one of those pitches where if you hang in there and keep stacking the balls in the right area consistently, you can chip our two or three in quick succession.
"It's just going to be a patience game. You just need to hit short of a good length and be as patient as you can."


Hockenheim will host this year's German Grand Prix, according to Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone.

The track hosted the 2014 race but is supposed to alternate each year with the Nurburgring.
But Ecclestone, 84, told Reuters: "It's going to be at Hockenheim. We just have to amend the years of the contract. It was alternating with Nurburgring so we'll just take that out."
Media playback is not supported on this device
Nurburgring confirmed it has not got a contract for 2015.
However, managing director Carsten Schumacher declined to comment further.
The official 2015 calendar does not yet specify a venue for the 19 July race.
The Nurburgring is under new ownership and Ecclestone added: "It can't be Nurburgring because there's nobody there."
Hockenheim staged its first Formula 1 grand prix in 1970.


The Raspberry Pi has become the most popular British computer made in history.

The title was formerly held by the Amstrad PCW, which is believed to have sold a total of eight million units.
Sales of the Raspberry Pi will go past that figure this month, said the Raspberry Pi project founder Eben Upton.
The milestone comes as the Raspberry Pi 3 is unveiled featuring new updates, including wi-fi and Bluetooth.
"We're calling it," said Mr Upton. "We're the best-selling UK computer ever."
The updated device also has a 64-bit processor onboard that gives the Pi 3 a 50% performance improvement on the Pi 2.
The release of the Raspberry Pi 3 on 29 February and it will go on sale for Â£30.
The Pi was designed to make computer code writing easy and first released in 2012.
The gadget is starting to be used widely in schools, "with 9-11 year-olds, we are seeing a lot of people get excited about it at that level," said Mr Upton.


Diggers have been spotted at the proposed site of a controversial tunnel near Stonehenge - before the end of a public consultation about the project.

The excavations near the World Heritage Site have prompted angry campaigners to suggest the planned 1.8-mile (2.9km) underground dual carriageway is a "done deal".
Highways England said it was "fact-finding work and not construction".
Plans for the road were unveiled by the government this month.
The busy A303 currently passes within a few hundred metres of the ancient monument and the tunnel would remove much of the road.
Dr Kate Fielden, from Stonehenge Alliance, said: "Highways England is pursuing this scheme before they've even finished the archaeological excavation - it's like it's a done deal.
"It would have been nice to have a full account of the work being undertaken, its results and investigations.
"Most worrying of all is the location, it is right below the ancient avenue which is a key feature of the pre-designed prehistoric landscape. It's a philistine way of treating the landscape."
Dr David Jacques, from The University of Buckingham, has been leading an archaeological project at nearby Blick Mead since 2005.
He said: "There's no sense of balance in this consultation. It seems to be simply Highways England explaining what they are going to do.
"They are putting a lot of energy into this but Blick Mead and the local landowners have yet to be invited into the consultation process."
A Highways England spokesman said: "We are undertaking geotechnical and archaeological surveys in and around the Stonehenge World Heritage Site.
"These will add to the evolving knowledge and understanding of this unique landscape and help us identify any issues when taking forward options for detailed assessment and design."
A public consultation to gather views of drivers and residents runs until 5 March.


A delay in starting school for summer-born or premature children may be linked with poor academic performance later on, a study suggests.

Some experts believe delayed school entry benefits this group of children.
However, the study found children who missed a year of learning often did worse in tests at the age of eight.
The research team, led by scientists at Warwick University, analysed the records of children born in the German state of Bavaria in 1985 and 1986.
They studied 999 children, of whom 472 were born before their due dates.
The researchers looked at teachers' assessments of the children's achievements in their first year of school and compared these with results of standardised maths, reading, writing and attention tests when the children were eight.
The researchers say many parents are keen to hold their children back a year if they are born prematurely or in the summer months, believing they are not mature enough.
Previous research has backed this view for children who are born more than three weeks before their due date.
However, the new analysis found delayed school entry could mean children missed out on learning opportunities "during the critical early years".
At the time the data was collected, children in Bavaria were assessed for school-readiness by a community paediatrician in the year before they were due to start school at six.
This meant the researchers were able to compare the school records of children who started at the expected age with those whose entry was held back a year.
The records reveal no difference between the two groups of children in teacher assessments in their first year of school.
But both groups took the standardised tests at the age of eight whether they had started school aged six or a year later, and the results showed the children who started later than their peers did worse.
"Our study shows that delaying school entry has no effect on year-one teacher ratings of academic performance, but it is associated with poorer performance in age-standardised tests of reading, writing, mathematics and attention as the children get older," said Prof Dieter Wolke, of the psychology department and Warwick Medical School.
Dr Julia Jaekel, of the Ruhr University Bochum department of developmental psychology, said many parents of preterm children believed delaying school entry would be more beneficial.
"Many parents demand that preterm children should be held back, particularly if they were born in the summer. This is also supported by many charities supporting parents with preterm children.
"However, we found missing one year of learning opportunities was associated with poorer average performance in standardised tests at eight years of age for both preterm and full-term children.
"Future research is needed to determine the long-term effect of delayed school entry on academic achievement, but our results certainly give parents and educational providers food for thought."
The researchers drew on data from the Bavarian Longitudinal Study, which followed children born in the state in the mid-1980s.
The research is published in the Journal of Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology.


Women with silicone breast implants made by French company Poly Implant Prothese (PIP) should not have them removed, UK officials say.

French authorities are recommending that women should have PIP implants removed as a precautionary measure.
But the UK's Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) says none of the evidence into possible links with cancer supports removal.
It is estimated that up to 40,000 British women have the PIP silicone implants.
Women with these implants have contacted the BBC to talk about their experiences. Here, they share their concerns.
I had my breasts done in 2007 after I had my son, before then I was completely flat.
I had no self-confidence at all. I wouldn't even take my son swimming, I was too ashamed.
I thought about having an operation for years and then in 2007 I took out a bank loan to get the surgery. But now I am in debt as I am not working and can't pay off these faulty implants.
After two years I got shooting pains and burning sensations in my breasts. I am really worried as my GP will not send me for an ultrasound scan because of the expense.
My original surgeon has now retired. The clinic I went to also not give me a ultrasound.
I am really scared these implants are like a ticking time-bomb waiting to explode.
When I had them done I was over the moon - I was like a new person. People were noticing a change in me I was full of confidence and very bubbly.
Now I'm just drained and depressed.
I am very, very angry as I am a single parent and on benefits. I can't afford to have them done again.
The thought of going back to the way I was is tearing me up inside.
I had PIP implants about nine years ago.
I heard the news about PIP implants last year. A friend of mine who also had the PIP implants a few years after me had ruptures in her implants.
I have now decided to have them replaced. I will be seeing a recommended surgeon in January.
I do think I should get some help with the cost but I'm not holding my breath.
Hopefully the implants are still intact. I will not know until I see my surgeon.
When I first got the implants, my consultant said that if all was well they could last for 20 years. But I read that they would last only 10 years.
Also, the surgeon said even if the implants split, the filling will not leak because they consist of a cohesive gel. But this is not the case.
What happens to all these ladies who can't afford surgery again? For me, the price will be double the original cost, but I want peace of mind.
I had a mastectomy for breast cancer in 2007 and during the same operation they put in a PIP implant.
It was done by one of France's top surgeons at a well-known and well-respected institute/hospital in Paris where I live. I've had follow-up scans since March 2010 when the news broke.
But since the scans were showing that the implant hadn't ruptured I was happy to follow the health agency's advice to wait before having it removed.
Now that we're hearing discussions about removing the PIP implants, I'm seriously regretting my decision to wait.
It's a horrible situation to be in, whether you've had cancer or not. But particularly if you've had cancer.
Some women have already been through so much, with so many operations and treatments, to add this worry on top is absolutely horrendous.
What is worse is how slow the government is being with finding who was responsible at PIP and putting them in jail.
The big question is why is the government dragging its feet? Is it because it's actually the health agency that has failed to notice the problem in time?
I have an appointment with my surgeon in January and I will be putting myself under the knife once again, thanks to penny-pinching at PIP.
I had these implants in February 2010 - just six weeks before they were recalled. I deliberately went to get them done at a reputable place at a cost of Â£4,250.
I belong to a PIP implants support group on social media and I know other women who have the implants - we have been completely abandoned by the private surgeons who have used these implants.
They have no protective shell to stop our lymph glands from filling up with silicone.
We have no-one to answer to this, and our only option seems to be to pay for them to be removed, and be left with nothing but empty, damaged breasts, through no fault of our own.


A convicted sex offender has been jailed for seven years for sexually assaulting two boys in the 1970s.

Gordon Stanforth, from Tullibody, Clackmannanshire, groomed the boys when he was a football coach.
The 66-year-old abused one boy between 1971 and 1975 and the other between 1975 and 1977 at various locations in Motherwell, North Lanarkshire.
Stanforth, who pleaded guilty to the abuse, was previously convicted of similar offences in 1974 and 2003.
Jailing him at the High Court in Edinburgh, judge Lord Boyd told Stanforth: "You have been convicted of sexually assaulting two young boys more than 40 years ago.
"The nature of the offences show that there was a large degree of planning and grooming involved. You targeted two vulnerable boys. These are serious offences."
The court heard how Stanforth's victims were "paralysed with fear" when he assaulted them.
He was brought to justice after both of them spoke to police about the abuse years later.
The court also heard that Stanforth was fined Â£150 in November 1974 for lewd, indecent and libidinous offences.
He was also jailed for two years in December 2003 for lewd, indecent and libidinous practices and behaviour.


Commuters using London Bridge station will face years of disruption when the refurbishment work begins as part of the Thameslink upgrade next year.

The station will get new platforms, the UK's largest concourse, new lifts, escalators and entrances on Tooley Street and St Thomas Street.
Work will begin in May 2013, affecting Southern, Thameslink and Southeastern services until 2018, Network Rail said.
London's oldest station, which opened in 1836, is used by 55 million people.
The station will remain open during the redevelopment work, which is part of the Â£6bn project to upgrade Thameslink.
Passenger watchdog London TravelWatch said disruption was inevitable for big projects but it urged train operators to keep passengers updated about the changes.
This phase will see upgrade work on seven miles of track and signalling equipment in south-east London around London Bridge station and rebuilding of several bridges.
Southern's south London line services between Victoria and London Bridge via Denmark Hill will be withdrawn from 9 December, but Network Rail said people in Denmark Hill and Peckham Rye could instead use the London Overground extension connecting Clapham Junction to Surrey Quays.
From May 2013 three platforms - 14, 15 and 16 - will be closed to the public and Southern trains will be diverted to other platforms resulting in changes to train timings.
Between December 2014 and 2018 Thameslink trains will be diverted away from the station.
Southeastern trains to Charing Cross will not call at London Bridge for a year from 2015 while services to Canon Street will also cease to use the station between 2016 until late 2017.
Network Rail said the upgrade work will make the station more accessible, reduce congestion and increase the number of trains stopping at the station from 70 to 88 per hour. Passenger capacity will also rise by 50%.
Robin Gisby, managing director of network operations at the rail company, said: "This will be the most ambitious redevelopment of any London station in a generation."
Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin said: "Passenger numbers have risen on an unprecedented scale in recent years and are now at their highest since the 1920s.
"Train passengers will be the biggest winners from this investment as London Bridge station is transformed from one of the capital's most congested stations into one of the most modern, accessible and passenger-friendly transport hubs in the UK."
In a joint statement, train operators First Capital Connect, Southeastern and Southern said: "This project will mean more trains and better journeys for passengers. We thank passengers for their understanding and patience whilst these essential improvement works are being delivered."
A spokeswoman for London TravelWatch said: "We support the rebuilding of London Bridge because essential improvements for passengers that cannot be properly delivered without works of this scale, however, we realise that it is going to cause significant disruption to passengers over a long period.
"Regular and reliable information, which clearly spells out any alternative travel options is essential and, where necessary, additional services or stops should be provided e.g. extra services into Victoria."


Port Vale defender Richard Duffy is keen to sign a new contract with the promotion-chasing League One club.

The 30-year-old Welshman is tied to Vale until June 2016, having signed a two-year extension to the contract he originally signed when he joined from Exeter City in July 2012.
"There's a few of us out of contract at the end of the season, including myself," he told BBC Radio Stoke.
"Who they want to keep is down to the manager but I want to stay," he added.
"I'm in a good place with my family. I'm settled here and hopefully I can impress the manager (Rob Page) enough to earn a new deal."
Meanwhile, Vale are still waiting on fitness reports on fellow defender Ryan Inniss, who limped off 36 minutes into Sunday's 1-1 draw with Coventry City with what appeared to be a hamstring injury.
Ninth-placed Vale, who are just three points adrift of the play-off zone following Sunday's draw with one of Duffy's former clubs, are currently up for sale.
Chairman Norman Smurthwaite is still understood to be in negotiations with three interested parties as he looks to get back the estimated £3m he has put into the club during his three years in charge, as well as the initial £1.25m he and then partner Paul Wildes paid to buy the club in October 2012.


A dramatic finish saw the Jacksonville Jaguars beat the Buffalo Bills in front of over 84,000 fans at Wembley.

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The Bills came from behind with 28 unanswered points to lead with two minutes remaining but Allen Hurns' diving touchdown sealed a 34-31 win.
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His score - with little room to work with in the corner - sealed the Jags' first Wembley win in three attempts.
Marcus Easley and Corey Graham scores set the Bills up for a win on their London debut before the late drama.
Pre-game favourites the Bills will rue early errors from quarterback EJ Manuel who fumbled to allow Chris Clemons a score and then saw a pass intercepted by Telvin Smith, who touched down in the second quarter.
Seeking just their second win of the regular season, the Jaguars looked edgy despite their 27-13 half-time lead and Graham ran home a 44-yard interception to give the Bills a late advantage, sparking wild scenes on their bench.
But quarterback Blake Bortles was given time to throw a 31-yard pass to the corner and Hurns dived athletically to land inches inside the end zone.
"I just tracked the ball, it was in the moment," Hurns told BBC Sport. "I had to dive for it but you've got to lay it on the line."
The crowd of 84,021 is the second highest in the 13 games since Wembley began staging International Series matches in 2007.
The occasion also sparked activity on social media, with #NFLUK trending in the UK and the subject of over 10,000 tweets from midday.
Fans of gridiron have not got long to wait for the next Wembley instalment as the Detroit Lions meet the Kansas City Chiefs at the home of English football next Sunday.
And games in the UK will continue for the long term, as the NFL has extended its deal to stage at least two a season at Wembley until 2020, while another agreement has been signed for two matches a year at Tottenham Hotspur's new stadium from 2018.
A minimum of four fixtures a year in London is seen as a long-term precursor to a franchise from sport's richest league being based permanently in the English capital.


President-elect Donald Trump swore he'd shake up Washington and he's wasting no time.

His latest pick is former Goldman Sachs banker Steven Mnuchin as his treasury secretary, where he will be responsible for government borrowing, assisting in the overhaul of the tax code and preparing financial sanctions against other countries.
The appointment still needs to be approved by the Senate. It's an unusual - and somewhat controversial - choice, given candidate Trump's criticism of Wall Street.
Here are five things you need to know about Steven Mnuchin.
Steven Mnuchin will follow in the footsteps of fellow Goldman alumni Robert Rubin (under Bill Clinton) and Henry Paulson under (George W Bush) in the Treasury job. Mr Mnuchin spent 17 years early in his career at the investment bank, where he oversaw trading of mortgage-backed bonds and rose from partner to chief information officer. Goldman chief executive Lloyd Blankfein described Mr Mnuchin - who served as Mr Trump's national finance chairman - as "a very smart guy". "When I was running the fixed-income division, he was a high-flyer," Mr Blankfein said recently. Mr Mnuchin left Goldman in 2002 and two years later founded the hedge fund Dune Capital Management.
The future US treasury secretary coming to a screen near you? Yes, it's true. He plays a banker in Warren Beatty's new film Rules Don't Apply. Besides working in finance, Mr Mnuchin has longstanding ties to Hollywood. He teamed up with producer-director Brett Ratner and Australian businessman James Packer to form RatPac Dune Entertainment. Together they produced some of Hollywood's most successful movies, including Avatar and Mad Max: Fury Road. Recent projects include Sully and The Accountant. He was briefly co-chairman of Relativity Media before it went bankrupt.
Mr Mnuchin returned to banking during the financial crisis, gathering a group of investors including hedge fund bigwigs George Soros and John Paulson, private equity investor Christopher Flowers and computer mogul Michael Dell to buy failed mortgage lender IndyMac. The bank, renamed OneWest Bank, returned to financial health but it became known for quickly seizing the homes of borrowers who fell behind on their mortgage payments.
In 2009, a New York judge called OneWest's behaviour "harsh, repugnant, shocking and repulsive'' in trying to foreclose on a New York family.  OneWest said it "respectfully disagreed" with the court.  Two years later, protesters marched on Mr Mnuchin's Los Angeles mansion accusing OneWest Bank of aggressive foreclosure practices. It was sold to CIT Group in 2015 in a lucrative deal.
Like his new boss, Steven Mnuchin grew up in a wealthy family. His father, Robert Mnuchin, was a banker-turned-upscale art dealer and his mother was a vice president of the International Directors' Council of the Solomon Guggenheim Museum. When she died in 2005, she made Steven and his brother Alan the beneficiaries and executors of her estate. Within a few months, they withdrew $3.2m from her account with Bernard Madoff Securities. Three years later Madoff was arrested and the two were sued by the trustee trying to recover money for victims of Madoff's Ponzi scheme. The suit was dropped because of time restrictions.
Donald Trump could soon be in a position of having sued his own treasury secretary. Mr Mnuchin's Dune Capital was among a group of lenders, including Deutsche Bank, who provided loans for the construction of a Trump skyscraper in Chicago. Mr Trump sued the lenders during the credit crunch to extend the terms of the loan. The suit was later settled. Mr Trump and Mr Mnuchin have also previously worked together on a hotel in Hawaii.


Leicester City's crowning as Premier League champions is an "incredible and romantic" story, the club's former manager Martin O'Neill has said.

The 5000-1 outsiders won the first top-flight title in their 132-year history on Monday when challengers Tottenham could only manage to draw with Chelsea.
O'Neill, who led the club to two League Cup wins, said the remarkable rise "will live long in the memory".
"Personally, I don't think we'll see it in our lifetime again," he added.
The Republic of Ireland boss said Leicester's achievement rekindled memories of his involvement in Nottingham Forest's glorious run under Brian Clough in the late-1970s.
"It's the greatest achievement, obviously, of the century, although that's just 16 years old," the former Northern Ireland international said.
"And I think since Nottingham Forest away back in 1977-78, when I was a member of the team that came up from the old second division and won the [top division] at the first time of asking, this is the greatest achievement since then."
O'Neill, who managed Leicester from 1995 until 2000, was full of praise for the Foxes' boss Claudio Ranieri for guiding the club to glory after they were tipped for relegation at the start of the season.
"Ranieri deserves all the credit in the world, the players have been simply sensational, the owners have been terrific as well," he said.
"It's been a great story.
"Everything about it - from away back last year when they just avoided relegation, to this magnificent rise - it has been incredible and so romantic."
Gerry Taggart, the former Northern Ireland centre-half who played almost 150 games for Leicester, said he hoped the club's triumph would change English football "for good, for the better".
"I've been saying for the last six or seven weeks that I believed Leicester would go on and win the title," he said.
"I've watched a lot of this team this season and it's just mind-blowing the way they've got to where they are.
"The way they play football is good for the game."
Taggart returned to Leicester in a coaching role after his playing career and had a brief spell as caretaker manager, and he said the way in which the club is run has helped drive it to success.
"The backroom staff at Leicester City are first class, they've spent a lot of years trying to perfect what goes on behind the scenes," he said.
"This is as much about them as it is about the players or the manager, to be honest."
Taggart gave credit to Ranieri for his man-management skills that helped to draw odds-defying performances from his players, most of whom had never before come close to reaching these heights.
"He simplified the game for them, let them go out, express themselves when they've got the ball," Taggart added.
"But it's been especially good to see when they haven't got the ball everybody is contributing to the side.
"That's what has got them over the line - pure and simple teamwork."


Eighty students from around the world have arrived in Dundee to compete in this year's Dare to be Digital game design competition.

Sixteen teams at the Abertay University-hosted event will spend two weeks putting finishing touches to their computer game designs.
The finished games will feature at Dare Protoplay, Scotland's biggest independent games festival, in August.
Teams from countries including India, Brazil and the US are taking part.
James Earl Cox III is part of a team from the University of Southern California, whose game is based on the theme of compassion.
The 25-year-old said: "The idea is that you never actually get a kill in the game, but you always take control of the person that kills you.
"You play a lot of games like Call of Duty and you always think of the other team as this enemy to fight against.
"So our game is to make you see people as people."
Matthew Bousfield, 22, an Abertay University graduate, said: "It's one of the major events on the Dundee calendar and it's just a shame that quite a lot of people don't really know about it.
"Hopefully, after this year if we can put on a big enough show, everyone will know."
Dr William Huber from Abertay's school of arts, media and computer games, said Dare to be Digital was "pretty much the premier international competition" for university students pursuing a career in gaming.
He said: "A lot of the students here come from very strong games programs around the world, but they recognise this as the place to compete."
Many of the students will attend a week of workshops and talks following the festival, concentrating on bringing their games to the market and turning their teams into studios and small businesses.
Dr Huber said the event had evolved since it began in 2000.
He said: "Originally it was very much thought of in terms of developing individual talent.
"That's still the case - many students go on and get hired by top-flight studios.
"But increasingly we're seeing games come from the competition that are successful in their own right and go on to be published and the teams go on to become studios.
"We're looking at both futures for this event - a chance to nurture talent, but also a chance to create new studios."
Dare Protoplay takes place in Dundee's Caird Hall and City Square from 4 to 7 August.


Three further outlets of troubled retailer Ness Clothing are to close in the coming week.

Administrators at BDO have said the stores in Dundee, Glasgow (Buchanan Galleries) and the Livingston Designer Outlet are to go.
Four other outlets - Aberdeen, Cambridge, Bath and Ilkley - closed on 15 January.
BDO partners James Stephen and Matthew Tait were appointed joint administrators in December.
The company, based in Edinburgh, is an independent women's fashion and accessories label.
Prior to entering administration, it operated 10 stores in Scotland and five stores in England, plus four concessions.
The company employed 105 people.
James Stephen said: "Despite Ness Clothing's improving sales figures nationally over the last 12 months, a challenging trading environment has significantly affected the long-term viability of these three outlets.
"We are left with no option but to cease trading these stores. Regrettably, all staff at these stores will be made redundant.
Mr Stephen said all remaining Ness Clothing stores would continue to trade, with all staff retained, while a sale of the business is finalised.


The BBC has seen a document in which Finance Minister Arlene Foster outlines the financial crisis facing the Northern Ireland Executive.

Her paper, obtained by the Nolan Show, has been circulated to other executive ministers.
In it, she said no deal on welfare would mean the executive having to make cuts of £604m in order to balance its books.
Mrs Foster said health could lose £280m and education £114m.
A so-called black hole would be created because loans offered in the Stormont House Agreement depend on the welfare issue being resolved.
There are no indications, however, if she would be prepared to bring this level of cuts forward.
The paper also presents an even bleaker picture in the absence of any budget being agreed and passed by July.
Then the permanent secretary of the Department of Finance would take control.
Mrs Foster, in her paper, stated that under legislation, income received such as planning fees and EU farm payments could not be spent.
She said this would leave Stormont facing a £2.8bn shortfall.
Analysis
John Campbell, BBC News NI Economics and Business Editor
This memo increases the pressure on other parties ahead of the proposed vote on welfare reform.
It sketches out a worst case scenario for the budget if there is no agreement - what we might call Arlene Foster's nuclear option.
The big number is a £2.8bn cut which the minister says would have to be imposed if civil servants took control of the budget.
In cash terms that would mean slashing the budget by about 20% which would have a grave impact on public services.
Agriculture Minister Michelle O'Neill later released a statement saying that farmers' subsidy payments were safe.
The Sinn Féin minister said the application window closed last Friday and there was a "firm contractual obligation on government to make these payments", which were funded "ultimately from the European Commission", to the 27,000 farmers who had applied.
Regional Development Minister Danny Kennedy said he would have to reflect on his position if the deadlock over welfare reform is not resolved by next Tuesday.
Speaking after the five Executive parties met the Secretary of State Theresa Villiers at Stormont House on Thursday morning, Mr Kennedy warned that the institutions were in a "very perilous state".
"I don't find the prospect of presiding over a zombie department in any way appetising," he said.
Health minister Simon Hamilton said the DUP had been warning for "weeks if not months" that not moving on welfare reform would have a "devastating impact" on the budget of all the departments.
"Put simply, nearly £300m being taken out of health and social care in Northern Ireland will lead to the collapse of the system," he added.
Northern Ireland's politicians are due to debate the welfare reform bill in the assembly next week.
Sinn Féin has said it will ask other parties to back a petition of concern against the bill. The SDLP has refused to say whether it would support that.
The main Stormont parties held talks with Ms Villiers on Wednesday but failed to produce any sign of a resolution to the continuing deadlock over the budget and welfare reform.
The Northern Ireland parties had agreed a deal on Westminster's welfare reform in the Stormont House Agreement last December.
However, Sinn Féin withdrew its support for the bill in March.


A man has admitted killing an 11-year-old girl in a hit-and-run in Glasgow.

Christopher Hannah was driving a car which mounted the pavement and struck Sophie Brannan in Sandbank Street, Maryhill, on 14 November last year.
Her friend Chelsea Sommerville, and Chelsea's uncle, Joseph Lloyd, were also badly injured.
At the High Court in Glasgow, 33-year-old Hannah, who is said to be a heroin addict, admitted a charge of culpable homicide. Sentence was deferred.
Following his guilty plea, the investigating officer Det Insp Colin Hailstones said: "This was an appallingly tragic case.
"Many people in the community in Maryhill were deeply affected by this incident, particularly as it resulted in the death of young Sophie Brannan, whose life was sadly taken away from her at the age of 11 and at the hands of someone under the influence of drugs.
"Police officers worked tirelessly to piece together the events of that fateful night and I must thank the many members of the local community and those injured who helped provide information about the incident."
He added: "The strength shown from the community towards Sophie's family and the other people who were injured is unquestionable and much support continues to be given to them."
The court heard that Hannah was driving a hired Vauxhall Astra in the area and lost control.
He then fully mounted the pavement before hitting the gable end of a nearby building.
The car continued to career forward eventually ploughing into Sophie and the two people with her from behind.
Prosecutor Allan Nicol said: "This caused them to be thrown onto the bonnet, windscreen and roof of the vehicle before falling onto the ground."
Another driver witnessed the crash and turned back to help Sophie.
More witnesses saw Hannah speed onto nearby Maryhill Road with his badly-dented car being "driven erratically".
He then crashed into a taxi whose driver decided to follow Hannah, who eventually stopped a short distance away.
Mr Nicol added: "At that point, the accused was trying to pull the damaged front bumper then he stopped and walked away before starting to run off.
"Both the taxi driver and his passengers noticed that he was under the influence of some substance."
Medics found Sophie lying on the pavement. She was rushed to the Royal Hospital for Sick Children at Yorkhill where she was found to have swelling to her brain, several fractures and broken bones.
The schoolgirl remained in intensive care overnight but was pronounced dead on the morning of 15 November.
The court heard that Chelsea suffered a serious leg break which will require long-term physiotherapy.
She continues to wear a cast several months after the tragedy.
Mr Nicol added: "She also suffers episodes of withdrawal and angry outbursts.
"She is due to attend for psychiatric assessment in order to come to terms with her injuries and the loss of Sophie."
Chelsea's uncle also suffered a number of fractures, but was initially released from hospital two days later.
However, he eventually required surgery and it is likely he will have "long-term restriction" of movement in his right shoulder.
Police discovered the Astra had been hired in Hannah's name on 14 October.
The court also heard that shortly after the incident, police searched the home of Hannah's partner, where he had been staying.
Mr Nicol said tin foil wraps with signs of drug use were discovered.
The prosecutor told the court: "On the day in question, she suspected he had been taking heroin as she was aware he is heroin-dependent."
His partner revealed Hannah had come home earlier that night "in shock".
Hannah had claimed he had hit someone, but did not know who.
The killer said he was going to a house in the city's south side, but would return.
Police were at the house when Hannah then called his girlfriend. She handed the phone to an officer and Hannah said: "I'm sorry - I didn't mean to do it.
"It was a total accident. I lost control of the car and I panicked. I'm going to hand myself in tonight."
The court heard that in the early hours of 17 November, Hannah turned up at a house in the city's Mount Florida area, but those inside decided to call police.
Officers turned up and arrested Hannah, who initially tried to escape. He was later searched and eight grams of heroin were discovered inside his boxer shorts.
The court heard how the occupants of the Mount Florida property later told police Hannah had called them on the night of the killing.
Hannah said at the time: "There's been an accident - watch the news. The police have fitted me up.
"I tried to get away and I have hit something. I don't know what."
Mr Nicol told the court: "He went on to say he had driven like a madman and that the something he had hit could have been a wheelie bin...but he didn't hang about to find out."
Hannah asked to stay for a while as the police were after him "because he had killed a wee lassie".
Accident investigators later concluded Hannah was solely to blame for what happened.
It was stated he took "a conscious decision" to drive while "impaired".
They added that the reason for him not stopping was because he knew he had taken drugs and was "aware of the ramifications".
As well as culpable homicide, Hannah also pleaded guilty to dangerous driving, attempting to defeat the ends of justice and possessing heroin.
It emerged he already had 14 previous convictions for crimes including having an offensive weapon and road traffic charges.
He was on bail at the time, having been freed from Glasgow's Justice of the Peace Court two months before the crash.
Hannah's advocate Thomas Ross said: "He has asked to state publicly his apologies for those affected by this terrible tragedy."
Lord Bannatyne remanded Hannah in custody and deferred sentencing until May.


Bradley Wiggins has been voted the 2012 BBC Sports Personality of the Year.

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The Tour de France and Olympic time trial champion, 32, beat 11 other contenders to the prestigious title.
Olympic heptathlon champion Jessica Ennis was runner-up while US Open winner Andy Murray was third.
"How could it have been better? 2012 was the year of Super Saturday, of the Miracle at Medinah, of a Weirwolf on the prowl and the fastest moving set of sideburns since Elvis Presley"
"I will say thank you to everyone who voted," said Wiggins, who became the first Briton to win the Tour and followed that triumph by claiming his fourth Olympic title.
After receiving the main award from the Duchess of Cambridge, he added: "We have had all that jungle stuff and X Factor in the last few weeks, so for people to pick up the phone and vote in half an hour, thank you very much.
"What a year. To stand on this stage with the people next to me is incredible. I'd like to thank my team-mates - I wouldn't be on this stage without them. I'd like to thank [British Cycling boss]  the coaches, British Cycling, Team Sky and all the Olympians."
Prime Minister David Cameron posted a message of congratulation on Twitter.
"Congratulations to Bradley Wiggins - a truly inspirational winner, after an incredible year for British sport," he said.
More than 1.6m phone votes were recorded for the 12 BBC Sports Personality contenders, with Wiggins taking 30.25% of the vote.
Wiggins mixed track and road cycling from an early age, but first came to wider public prominence in the velodrome, when he won 4km individual pursuit gold at the 2004 Olympics in Athens.
The Lancashire-based athlete followed that up with two more golds on the track at the Beijing Games in 2008, a year in which he also picked up three titles at the UCI Track Cycling World Championships.
Wiggins showed his Tour pedigree when finishing fourth overall in 2009 (later promoted to third following the disqualification of third-placed Lance Armstrong) before securing a first Grand Tour podium place with third in the Vuelta a Espana two years later - a place behind Team Sky team-mate and fellow Briton Chris Froome, who was to play a key supporting role in Wiggins's 2012 Tour win.
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In total, the Briton won Paris-Nice, the Tour de Romandie, the Criterium du Dauphine and the Tour de France during 2012 - the only cyclist ever to achieve that feat in a single season.
And just over a week after his Tour victory, the Belgium-born rider won the time trial at London 2012 to take his tally of Olympic medals to seven, a haul only equalled among Britons by fellow cyclist and 2012 Sports Personality nominee Sir Chris Hoy.
Below are the results of the phone voting for the 2012 BBC Sports Personality of the Year main award:
Total votes: 1,626,718
1. Bradley Wiggins 492,064 (30.25%)
2. Jessica Ennis 372,765 (22.92%)
3. Andy Murray 230,444 (14.17%)
4. Mo Farah 131,327 (8.07%)
5. David Weir 114,633 (7.05%)
6. Ellie Simmonds 102,894 (6.33%)
7. Sir Chris Hoy 42,961 (2.64%)
8. Nicola Adams 35,560 (2.19%)
9. Ben Ainslie 35,373 (2.17%)
10. Rory McIlroy 29,729 (1.83%)
11. Katherine Grainger 28,626 (1.76%)
12. Sarah Storey 10,342 (0.64%)


Northern Ireland Water has said its pre-tax profits fell by £7m this year.

It reported profits of £131.5m, down from £138.5m for the same period in 2014.
NI Water was formed in 2007 and is owned by the Department for Regional Development.
Its latest accounts showed that it takes around £435m each year to run its water and wastewater businesses in Northern Ireland.
Its annual report says average bills for customers fell by about 12% over the last two years, with bills for business customers down 4%.
However, bills in Northern Ireland still remain much higher than in England and Wales, on average £411 per year against £385 per year.
Its report sets out a range of targets to measure the company's performance, many of which it met, including the number of complaints.
However, it missed its targets in relation to reducing the length of time to reconnect customers who have their water supply disrupted, as well as the number of houses affected by overflowing sewers.
Its report says weak economic conditions in Northern Ireland in recent years have had an impact on NI Water's financial performance, mainly in relation to lower levels of consumption.


A recycling firm near Bristol has been found guilty of dumping 61,000 tonnes of hazardous waste into the foundations of a supermarket distribution centre.

Churngold Recycling Ltd was paid to remove and safely treat 31,000 tonnes of waste from a BMW plant in Oxford.
Instead the firm mixed it with more waste so it weighed 61,000 tonnes and then sold on as groundworks material.
Both directors were cleared for perverting the course of justice and for knowingly breaching permits.
Some of the charges related to the firm only, or the firm and both directors.
During the trial, the jury heard 31,000 tonnes of soil containing asbestos, lead and other heavy metals, was taken from a BMW factory in 2011 to Churngold's site in Hallen.
At the time, the firm had a licence to hold 6,000 tonnes.
The waste material was mixed with other waste and concrete then sold to developers who were building a Co-op distribution centre in Avonmouth.
The firm was found guilty of dumping the waste onto the Co-op site.
Ground worker Edward Mayne said: "The smell was so bad at stages, sometimes I had to leave the site, it made me feel dizzy and sick.
"We had it all over our bodies, it was raining, it was mud - we were in it all the time."
When workers complained they were told to get the waste in the ground as quickly as possible.
A Churngold Recycling employee alerted the Environment Agency which triggered the five-year investigation.
The court heard the waste had to be removed and disposed of properly at a cost of Â£9m.
Churngold Ltd was found guilty of four charges.
The firm, together with both directors, was found guilty of illegally storing more than 6,000 tonnes hazardous waste safely and for knowingly doing so.
Barcham was cleared of a single count of falsifying documents. The firm and both directors were cleared of knowingly dumping waste without the necessary permits.
Both directors were cleared of one count of perverting the course of justice.
The jury failed to reach a verdict on two counts. They related to the firm and directors knowingly consenting to illegally dumping controlled waste without a permit and treating, keeping and dumping controlled waste which could be harmful to the environment.
Bristol Crown Court's jury returned five guilty verdicts, three not guilty and failed to reach a verdict on two counts.
The Environment Agency has until 10 July to seek a retrial over the two charges where the jury failed to reach a verdict.
Churngold Recycling Limited has since changed its name to South West Recycling Ltd.
A sentencing date has not yet been set.


A Scottish man who says he was abused by former Crewe Alexandra coach Barry Bennell has warned that sexual abuse in football could be a "huge" problem.

Dougie Gilligan, from Hamilton, said Bennell had abused him on two occasions during a coaching camp at Butlins in the 1970s.
A string of historical claims have also been made by former players in England.
The Scottish Football Association (SFA) is meeting to discuss child safety within the game.
The association has been urged to launch a full investigation to determine the extent of sexual abuse in the game. The English FA has appointed an independent lawyer to assist with an internal review of its handling of allegations.
Former SFA chief executive Gordon Smith said it was important the body prepared for cases to come to light in Scotland.
Mr Gilligan told BBC Scotland he had suffered "low level" abuse at two Butlins camps in England and Wales in the late 1970s.
"He [Bennell] was very much like a kind of man's man. Somebody that a young boy would look up to. Very well connected in football, did a lot of name-dropping with famous footballers. Had a lot of football strips," he said.
"Thinking back on it, a classic predatory paedophile groomer to be honest. But at the time, as a 13-year-old boy, you don't see that.
"He abused me on a very minor level, but I reacted to it quite aggressively."
Mr Gilligan said Bennell had abused him while he was staying overnight at the former coach's chalet with two other boys.
"I woke up... I basically give him short shrift and told him where to get off and that was it," he told BBC Scotland.
"So I feel kind of lucky, I dodged the bullet a little bit in that it was low level from my perspective. I don't see it as major in comparison to what I've heard of some of the revelations recently."
Mr Gilligan, who later played football semi-professionally, said he had spoken to the police in 1996 and had been ready to testify before Bennell pled guilty.
He has now called for a thorough investigation into the extent of sexual abuse in football.
"I think it could be huge. Because of the type of stigma attached to it, people are very reluctant to come forward and that's one of the things I feel a little bit guilty about myself, that I didn't speak up earlier," he said.
"Although I did in 1996, I could have spoken up earlier and that could have helped people."
Bennell, 62, is being treated in hospital after an incident in Stevenage in Hertfordshire on Friday evening. Police were responding to what they said was a "fear for welfare" report.
The SFA announced last week that it was supporting the NSPCC's campaign to encourage anyone with knowledge of child abuse in football to speak out.
Former Rangers and Manchester City player Gordon Smith was SFA chief executive from 2007 until 2010.
Speaking on the BBC's Good Morning Scotland radio programme, he said: "I think they (the SFA) just need to announce that they are doing a full investigation into it, just to make sure.
"And if there are any cases that do come up then we need to make sure that these will be dealt with, and the players who have been involved - the ones who have actually been abused - will receive help and counselling.
"We'll make sure it doesn't happen again."
In England, four police forces are investigating the allegations after former footballers came forward to say they were sexually abused as youth players.
An NSPCC hotline has had more than 100 calls.
The English FA's internal review will look at what information the FA was aware of at relevant times, which clubs were aware and what action was, or should have been, taken.
Former Manchester City and England player David White is among several who claim they were abused by former Crewe Alexandra coach Bennell.
The 62-year-old was jailed in 1998 for sex offences against children and was imprisoned again last year.
In the same year, James Torbett, a former coach at Celtic Boys' Club, was convicted of abusing three young players, including former Scotland international Alan Brazil.
Last week Scotland's Commissioner for Children and Young People, Tam Baillie, said the allegations made by players in England may be the tip of the iceberg.
He told BBC Scotland: "I fear we are on the brink on many more revelations."


A classified advertising website accused of being a "hub" for the sex trafficking of children has shut down its adult section in the US.

The move followed the publication of a Senate report that claimed Backpage.com had "knowingly concealed evidence of criminality" by editing ads featuring words associated with child abuse.
But the site says its freedom of speech rights have been violated.
And it claims the ads had helped police track down missing children.
Links on the site to its adult section now feature the word "censored" and direct users to a page that claims the business has been a victim of "unconstitutional government censorship."
The adult section's closure had been unexpected.
Last month, a judge dismissed a case in which the Californian authorities had claimed that Backpage's chief executive and two of its ex-owners had committed pimping offences and generated millions of dollars by hosting sex trade ads.
The basis for the ruling was that US law states that website publishers cannot be held responsible for content created solely by their users.
And on Monday, the Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal filed by three women who had alleged Backpage was at fault because they had been sold as prostitutes via the site when they had been as young as 15.
The UK and other international versions of Backpage.com continue to offer their adult sections.
The Senate's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations described Backpage as the "world's second-largest classified advertising website", adding that the service was involved in 73% of all child trafficking reports passed from the public over to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC).
It said the company was aware of the problem, but rather than block suspicious ads had set up a programme that helped remove incriminating words and phrases.
Banned terms included:
It said that initially these words were automatically removed by an electronic filter, and manual checks removed similar language - but the remainder of the ads were then allowed to run.
The committee added that by 2012, a different process had been put in place, which brought up an error message if the banned terms were detected.
It said these alerts identified the words that were barred, allowing users to resubmit their ads with the restricted terms removed.
The committee also presented evidence from unnamed whistleblowers, who were said to have worked for the company.
It said one had told it that the moderation team had seen it as its job to "sanitise" ads before they appeared.
"According to her, moderators 'went through the motions of putting lipstick on a pig, because when it came down to it, it was what the business was about' - that is moderating ads for prostitution," the report said.
The committee acknowledged that Backpage had passed on thousands of ads it had suspected of being related to child exploitation to the NCMEC.
But it said an internal company email dated February 2012, suggested the company might have "artificially limited" the number of such alerts.
"If we don't want to blow past 500 this month, we shouldn't be doing more than 16 a day," the email said.
"We can't ignore the ones that seem like trouble, but if we start counting now it might help us on the ones where we're being liberal."
Backpage has shared the letter it had sent to the committee defending its practices.
It said it agreed that human trafficking was "abhorrent" and added that it had spent "thousands of hours and millions of dollars" to help law enforcement tackle the problem.
It also published a statement from Children of the Night - a Los Angeles-based organisation part-funded by Backpage and dedicated to "rescuing American children from prostitution".
"The ability to search for and track potentially exploited children on a website and have the website bend over backwards to help and cooperate with police the way Backpage did was totally unique," wrote Dr Lois Lee, the organisation's founder.
"It not only made law enforcement's job easier, it made them much more effective at rescuing kids and convicting pimps."
Although Backpage's adult section is offline for now, the site indicated it might try to revive it.
"This will not end the fight for online freedom of speech," it said in a statement.
"Backpage.com will continue to pursue its efforts in court to vindicate its First Amendment rights and those of other online platforms for third-party expression."
Backpage's lawyers said executives from the company would appear at a Senate subcommittee hearing later this Tuesday, but would not testify.


The Gambia should be suspended from the region bloc Ecowas if it does not free dozens of political prisoners and end a "brutal" crackdown on dissent, Amnesty International says.

Opposition politicians, journalists and activists live in a "climate of fear" ahead of December's polls, it said.
President Yahya Jammeh seized power in a bloodless coup in 1994 and is accused of ruling with an iron fist ever since.
He has since won four elections marred by allegations of rigging.
Amnesty says dozens of peaceful protesters and bystanders were beaten by police and arrested in April and May - and 51 people are now awaiting trial.
Solo Sandeng, national organising secretary of the opposition United Democratic Party (UDP), died in custody in April.
In an interview last month, President Jammeh said it was "common" for people to die in detention or while under interrogation.
He said UN chief Ban Ki-moon and Amnesty International could "go to hell" for asking for an investigation.
"Gambia has a long and brutal history of repression of critical voices and demonstrators such as Solo Sandeng have paid a high price for peaceful protest," Alioune Tine, Amnesty's regional director for West and Central Africa, said.
Amnesty's report also highlighted the death of a union leader in custody in February, the "enforced disappearance" of an imam in October and the arrest and trial of a journalist who shared a photo of Mr Jammeh on messaging service WhatsApp in July last year.
It accused the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) of unlawful surveillance and using threats of torture and ill-treatment to obtain passwords to detainee' email and social media accounts and phones.
The NIA has recently been accused of torture by Human Rights Watch.
An Ecowas heads of state meeting is taking place in Senegal on Saturday.


Nearly half of women who quit smoking during pregnancy take it up again soon after they give birth, according to research in the journal Addiction.

The analysis of several studies suggests 13% of women who enrol on smoking cessation programmes quit during pregnancy.
But 43% of these restart within six months of giving birth.
Public Health England says more action is needed to help mothers-to-be quit for good.
Smoking during pregnancy has been linked to many health problems including premature births, miscarriages, stillbirths and sudden infant deaths.
The scientists from the universities of Nottingham and York looked specifically at the success of women who used smoking cessation services to help them quit.
They pulled together several international trials, including some from the UK, involving almost 1,000 women who took part in stop smoking programmes between 1989 and 2014.
And they found only a minority of women who tried to quit smoking succeeded.
Official figures for England published by the Health and Social Care Information Centre show 11% of pregnant women were recorded as smokers at the time of giving birth in 2014-15, a steady decline from 15 percent in 2007.
But regional data shows wide differences across the country - with more smokers in poorer areas.
Prof Jonathan Grigg of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health said the findings of this study were a worrying sign for the state of child health.
He added: "We need to fully support parents in the first few months with their baby to highlight to them the importance of keeping their home smoke-free.
"Health visitor and smoking-cessation services are vital to this process, but with the Â£200m reduction in funding for public health, these services are at risk."
Rosanna O'Connor, at Public Health England, said: "While the rate of women smoking during pregnancy continues to fall, further action is needed to support those who find it more difficult to stop and to help those who do stop, to stop smoking forever.
"It is vital to protect babies from smoke during pregnancy and in the early months of life. The best protection for mothers, their babies and partners is to quit smoking for good."


Bedwas beat Carmarthen Quins 23-18 to secure the Foster's Premiership Challenge Cup in the final at Bridgend's Brewery Field.

Steve Law's side secured the first silverware of the season thanks to tries from Patric Lewis and Mike Callow.
Bedwas' victory came after they were beaten by Pontypridd in the inaugural final of the competition in 2016.
They had beaten Bridgend 55-14 in the semi-final.


The rise in popularity of e-cigarettes in the UK may have resulted in more successful attempts to quit smoking, according to UK researchers.

The British Medical Journal work looked at trends in quit rates and support in England from 2006 to 2015.
E-cigarettes seem to have had no effect on the number of people trying to quit, but more have actually managed to stop.
The authors say vaping may have helped about 18,000 extra people in England successfully give up smoking in 2015.
The team, from University College London and Cancer Research UK, say theirs is an observational study, and therefore cannot prove direct cause and effect.
One smoking expert said it appeared e-cigarettes were a "major contributor" to the trend.
But health professionals say the most effective way to quit smoking remains through prescription medication and professional support from free local NHS stop-smoking services.
Electronic cigarettes are not yet widely available on the NHS.
Sales of e-cigarettes have been rising steadily since they first went on sale in the UK, in 2007. They are now used by nearly three million people in the UK.
In the past few years, they have replaced nicotine patches and gum to become the most popular choice of smoking cessation aid in England.
The BMJ research looked at data from the Smoking Toolkit Study from 2006 through to 2015.
The study also took data from the NHS Stop Smoking Service.
During the period studied, just over eight million people set dates to quit smoking.
'Something is working'
And the number of smokers who successfully managed to stop smoking increased by just under 1% for every 1% rise in the number of smokers using e-cigarettes.
Use of prescribed nicotine-replacement therapy also fell as e-cigarette use rose.
The team, led by Prof Robert West at UCL, said: "The increased prevalence of e-cigarettes in England does not appear to have been associated with a detectable change in attempts to stop smoking.
"However, the increase in e-cigarette use has been associated with an increase in success of quit attempts."
Writing in the BMJ, John Britton, director of the UK Centre for Tobacco and Alcohol Studies at the University of Nottingham, said the results suggested e-cigarette use could contribute to falling smoking rates.
Smoking rates fell by 1% from 2014 to 2015.
Dr Britton said: "This significant year-on-year fall indicates that something in UK tobacco control policy is working, and successful quitting through substitution with e-cigarettes is one likely major contributor."
Prof Linda Bauld, of Cancer Research UK, said: "The British public have voted with their feet and are choosing to use e-cigarettes. This is a positive choice, and we should promote it."
Public Health England says e-cigarettes are 95% less harmful to your health than normal cigarettes, and when supported by a smoking cessation service, help most smokers to quit tobacco altogether.


The Football Association has reduced ticket prices across all ranges for the FA Cup final by £5.

Tickets for the final at Wembley on 21 May are £45, excluding concessions, while semi-final tickets have reverted to 2014 prices and begin at £30.
The FA said in a statement it was able to cut prices because of "a good financial position".
Liverpool recently scrapped their top-priced £77 tickets for next season after protests from fans.
The club's owners apologised for the "distress caused" by their pricing announcement in response to supporters walking out after 77 minutes of the 2-2 Premier League draw against Sunderland at Anfield on 6 February.
The FA statement read: "So far, this season's competition has seen attendances close to two million and £13m distributed to clubs across the football pyramid.
"Lowering the cost of these showpiece matches is in recognition of the strong, continued commitment from fans supporting the world's original cup competition."


Scunthorpe chairman Peter Swann has urged fans to keep faith in the team and "not get on players' backs".

The Iron have lost three of their last six league games, but are still second in League One.
The home defeat by Shrewsbury on 11 February ended a run of 26 league games without losing at Glanford Park.
"Let's get real, we are second in the league and that is after playing probably our worst football of the season," Swann told the club website.
"Do you honestly believe that when a player doesn't control the ball with his first touch of the game we should be on his back?"
He added: "The rumours of contract disputes, unrest in the team, a not-bothered attitude, is so far from the truth it hurts when I read it and certain people just want to derail our success whether knowingly, or not, which is even more annoying.
"We ask passionately that you all get behind them and give them that chance to recapture their form and yes, do not panic, because we can do it, we can get promoted and we can be proud of them."
The Iron were top of the table when they last won, against Port Vale on 28 January, but are now seven points behind leaders Sheffield United and level on points with third-placed Fleetwood.
Scunthorpe host the Cod Army on Saturday.


Pupils who rely on free school meals can face hunger in the holidays, says a leading children's charity.

Barnardo's runs a family holiday scheme in east Belfast which includes a free breakfast.
"During the long nine-week holiday families struggle with rising costs," said the charity's Nicola Hannigan.
The Trussell Trust, which operates a number of foodbanks in Northern Ireland, has also run similar schemes this summer in Lisburn and Londonderry.
The summer scheme run by Barnardo's is held at Tullycarnet Primary School.
It is aimed at children from the area who receive free school meals, and before the day's activity a free breakfast is provided.
The local Co-Op supermarket and Dundonald foodbank donate the food, which includes cereal, toast, fresh fruit and juice.
Parents also attend the scheme with their children.
Mum Claire Stevenson - who brings her three sons - said many found the summer break tough.
"One of the reasons people get free school meals is simply because they can't afford them," she said.
"They've got used to having this nice hot meal prepared for their children and now they have to prepare that for them at home."
"Some people just don't have the means."
"We are an area of serious under-privilege here and it's frightening to think that some children are hungry."
Barnardo's run the breakfast club three days a week at the scheme, and the demand has been high, according to Nicola Hannigan.
"We've had well up into the 90s, with a lot of families with children under the age of five," she said.
"Families have said they appreciate that they can get up and don't have to worry about that one meal a day."
"It is the most important meal of the day, so we thought it would be a good way to support them."
Families wash up their own dishes after breakfast, and parents can then stay with their children for the rest of the day's activities.
That also brings important benefits, according to Debbie McCord who attends with her daughter and niece.
"It gets mummies out and children mixing with other children," she said.
"Mummies that maybe don't know anybody can come down and interact with everybody else, so it's great for them and the children."
Earlier this year, some teaching unions expressed concern that increasing numbers of children were coming to school hungry.
According to Department of Education figures, 101,063 pupils were eligible for free school meals in 2015/16, with 82,002 of eligible pupils taking them up.
Parents who are working in low-income jobs or are on some benefits can apply for free school meals for their children.
Some children with special educational needs are also eligible.


If you want to earn a big salary, you would be advised to study medicine or economics, says a report by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS).

Just ten years after graduation, male medical students earned a median wage of £55,000, the research found.
Female medical students also became the highest earners, typically making £45,000 a year.
Where you study also matters: Students of the London School of Economics, Oxford and Cambridge earned the most.
In addition, higher earners tended to come from wealthier backgrounds, the IFS said.
The research was based on the student loan records of 260,000 individuals, whose salaries were tracked over a ten year period up to 2013.
Economics was the second most lucrative degree, with male students earning a median salary of £42,000, and women earning £38,000.
By contrast, those who obtained degrees in creative arts had the lowest salaries.
Men earned a median annual wage of £17,900, with women earning £14,500.
The study also showed that graduates are much more likely to have a job - and to earn more - than non-graduates.
Anna Vignoles, one of the report authors, said students should think carefully about what they choose to study.
"Higher education leads to much better earnings than those earned by non-graduates, although students need to realise that their subject choice is important in determining how much of an earnings advantage they will have."
The London School of Economics (LSE) was the most lucrative university, according to the study, followed by Cambridge and then Oxford.
Around 10% of male graduates from these institutions were earning more than £100,000 ten years after graduation.
LSE was the only university where 10% of female graduates were in the same position.
However the IFS said that LSE benefited from a focus on high-paying subjects like economics and law.
It said there was also a very strong performance from northern universities like Liverpool, Newcastle and York - even though local labour markets had lower rates of pay than in the South.
In London, Imperial College and Kings College had strong earnings levels.


The Netflix US Twitter account - with 2.5m followers - has been compromised by a hacker group.

The group, OurMine, posted tweets promoting its own website and services.
However, the tweets were removed about an hour after the first one appeared.
OurMine has hacked several high-profile Twitter accounts this year, including those of Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales, Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg and Google chief executive Sundar Pichai.
It also hacked the Techcrunch and BuzzFeed websites, as well as the Twitter and Vine accounts of the social media platforms' chief executive Jack Dorsey.
"Don't worry we are just testing your security," read one of the tweets posted to the Netflix account.
The hackers told the BBC they still had access to the account, adding that they were still posting tweets, but these were being deleted "by Twitter Support".