Former Rangers captain Barry Ferguson insists manager Pedro Caixinha needs time to transform the current side into a genuine Premiership force again.

Caixinha's team celebrated wildly after Joe Garner's injury-time header secured Sunday's 2-1 win at Partick Thistle.
But Aberdeen's victory at Hearts all but assured Rangers will finish third.
"You've got to give him time, into the summer, to get a pre-season with the guys and see what kind of money is available to change it," Ferguson said.
"I know he's said he's going to change 10, 11, 12 players, but there's no chance that's going to happen.
"A lot of these guys are under contract for two or three years, how are you going to get rid of them? He'll need to work with this group of players that he's got. He might be able to add two or three.
"There are some good players at Rangers, they're just short on confidence.
"It's going to be a big summer for him. He's going to have to work really hard with this group because I don't think they're going to be able to bring in a lot of players."
Ferguson, who won five league titles, five Scottish Cups and five Scottish League Cups in his two spells at the club, admitted he was surprised at the scale of the celebrations from players and supporters at Firhill.
"It was just more relief from the last couple of weeks that they've had, but I was pretty surprised by the reaction of the players and the management," he told BBC Scotland's Sportsound.
"It just shows you the pressure they've been under. It was like they'd won the league.
"I thought Partick Thistle were the better team, up until Barrie McKay came on and showed a bit of magic to score the goal and then Kenny [Miller], who's been doing it all season for Rangers, has popped up with a great run and cross. It sums up Rangers just now."
Rangers' relief at their late comeback followed further criticism of the team and Caixinha's tactics following their back-to-back defeats by Celtic in the Scottish Cup semi-final  and a record  5-1 humbling at Ibrox.
Ferguson admitted he was surprised at the way the Portuguese coach set up his side for the second encounter.
"In times gone by, if we had injuries or suspensions and we didn't have our strongest team out, and we knew Celtic were going to be stronger, we would set up to be hard to beat and then take the game for as long as we could," he added.
"Then going into the last 15, we might nick a goal. That's the way I thought he would have gone last week against Celtic. I was surprised with the formation because down the flanks Celtic killed Rangers."


Many Australians were just arriving at work on Monday when the confusing first reports emerged that a Sydney woman had been fatally shot in Minneapolis.

Days later, as the week drew to a close, Justine Damond's killing was still dominating the news in her home country - and there were only more questions.
How had the former veterinarian from Sydney's northern beaches been shot by a policeman after simply trying to report a potential crime?
It was branded an "American nightmare" in consecutive front page headlines in Sydney's Daily Telegraph newspaper.
Writing in the Sydney Morning Herald, columnist Paul McGeough lamented that Minneapolis authorities were "not joining the dots" over how Officer Mohamed Noor had come to fire his weapon.
"Damond can't tell us what happened in a darkened alley - because she died, after taking a bullet in the abdomen," he wrote.
"And the man who seemingly admits to pulling the trigger is refusing to be interviewed - that's his constitutional right, we're told."
For many Australians, the controversy surrounding police shootings in the US is a familiar topic - it often features in the news.
But the shooting of a local woman as she sought assistance in her pyjamas brings home an extra emotional reality, according to Dr David Smith, a US studies expert at the University of Sydney.
"Australians are well aware that police shootings happen in the United States and that a large amount of people die," he said.
"[However] it's very unusual that an Australian would be involved."
Police shootings in Australia are relatively rare. According to an Australian Institute of Criminology study, 105 people were shot dead by police in Australia between 1989 and 2011.
In comparison, Ms Damond was the 541st victim of a police shooting in the US in 2017 alone, according to the Washington Post.
Shootings in general are significantly lower in Australia, and debate over gun ownership is not as polarising. In 1996, then-Prime Minister John Howard, a conservative, successfully banned automatic and semi-automatic weapons after a shooting in Tasmania that killed 35 people.
Dr Smith believes that Australians have long been familiar with these differences.
"I think that is very shocking to have an Australian involved in this [incident], but I doubt that this changes the way that Australians see the US because we are aware of these issues," he said.
Beneath a rising sun on Wednesday, relatives and friends of Ms Damond gathered in silence for a vigil at Freshwater Beach in Sydney.
It was not far from where Justine Ruszczyk, as she is also known, had lived before moving to the US to be with her fiance, Don Damond. She had gone to high school in a neighbouring suburb.
The group of about 300 people lit candles before a gong sounded and one of her friends began playing a didgeridoo.
Attendees - including her father, John Ruszczyk, and brother, Jason  - released pink flowers into the sea.
The same day, Australian Prime Minister Malcolm described the yoga instructor's killing as shocking and inexplicable.
He told a national television programme that he was "demanding answers".
Two days later, Minneapolis Police Chief Janee Harteau held a press briefing and acknowledged that the shooting should not have happened.
"I want to assure Justine's family, our community and those in Australia that I will do everything in my power to ensure due process is followed and justice is served," she said.


Fernando Alonso is preparing for the "most horrible" four laps of his career in qualifying for the Indianapolis 500.

The final day of practice is known as 'Fast Friday' because cars are put into qualifying trim, with reduced downforce and increased power from the engines.
Alonso said he has been told by coach Gil de Ferran to expect nerve-wracking laps as "the car is very on the limit".
The Spanish McLaren Formula 1 driver was fourth quickest on Thursday with an average speed of 225.619mph.
The fastest time was set by Briton Jay Howard at 226.744mph.
"Gil de Ferran, my coach, my mentor, told me the four laps in qualifying will be the most horrible you've ever done because the car is very on the limit," said two-time F1 world champion Alonso, 35.
"But I will have a first touch on Fast Friday and then we will see on Saturday.
"We work still a lot on the race situation, getting out there with guys and running in traffic.
"I still miss more laps, but we will try to make the most of it on Friday with the more power we have and try to learn from that."
Alonso is making a one-off appearance at the Indy 500 on 28 May instead of racing at the Monaco Grand Prix, where he will be replaced by Britain's Jenson Button, who is coming out of retirement for one race.
The Spaniard has set himself a target of winning the so-called 'triple crown' of Monaco, Indy and the Le Mans 24 Hours sportscar race. Only Briton Graham Hill has ever achieved the feat.


Sacked tennis commentator Doug Adler is to sue broadcaster ESPN, claiming he compared Venus Williams' tactics to a "guerilla", rather than a "gorilla".

During Williams' Australian Open second-round tie with Stefanie Voegele in January, Adler said: "Venus moved in and put the guerilla effect on."
Adler apologised after viewers complained, but was dismissed by ESPN.
An ESPN spokesman told BBC Sport: "We have not been served and are declining further comment."
Adler's lawyer David M Ring said that "guerilla tennis" was a common phrase in the sport to describe an aggressive match, citing a Spike Jonze-directed advert featuring Andre Agassi and Peter Sampras that was named after the term.
Adler had worked for ESPN since 2008 and was a professional tennis broadcaster for six years prior to that.
He claims he suffered "emotional distress" after accusations of racism.


Singer Ed Sheeran has performed his only gig of 2016 at a fundraising event for a children's hospice - and joked about having his face cut by royalty.

The musician performed at a gala dinner for East Anglia's Children's Hospices (EACH) at the Natural History Museum.
During his year out he "got his face cut open", he said, referring to reports Princess Beatrice accidentally cut him with a sword at a party.
EACH is trying to raise £10 million for a new hospice site in Norfolk.
Sheeran has not performed in public since December last year, when he announced he would be travelling the world and "taking a break" from his phone and social media.
However, he said he was "enormously proud and excited" to perform the 45-minute acoustic set at the museum on Wednesday night.
Sheeran took to the stage in front of Dippy the Diplodocus, the dinosaur skeleton replica which dominates the museum, but which will be removed next month to go on a nationwide tour.
More news from the Suffolk singer's home county
"This is the first time I've done a show in a year, so please bear with me," he told the audience.
"It's nice to be back," he said, before joking about the reported incident with Princess Beatrice, who allegedly left Sheeran needing 25 stitches after cutting his face while pretending to "knight" singer James Blunt at a fancy dress party.
"Anyone read about that?" he asked.
Guests at the event also heard a message from EACH's royal patron, The Duchess of Cambridge.
She described the charity as "a wonderful organisation" and said the new hospice, called "the nook" would make "a huge difference to thousands of children and families for many years to come".
Sheeran's set included some of his most well-known hits including Thinking Out Loud, Sing, I See Fire and The A Team.
He also played Justin Bieber's Love Yourself, which he co-wrote but said he had never played live before.
As well as performing on the night, Sheeran - an EACH ambassador since 2014 - donated a drum kit for a global auction for the charity, which raised £2,650.
The evening raised more than £262,000 for the charity.
Graham Butland, EACH's chief executive, said the auction "helped to raise the profile of the vital care we provide to life-threatened children and young people".
Its proposed new hospice will offer services currently unavailable at its other site in Quidenham, such as a hydrotherapy pool and music studio, and will have more accessible outside space.


A five-year stalking campaign culminated in the attempted murder of a woman who was stabbed in the neck with a pair of scissors, a court has heard.

Helen Pearson was on her way to a gym when she was attacked near St Bartholomew's Cemetery, Exeter, the city's crown court was told.
Joseph Willis, 49, has denied a charge of attempted murder.
The court was told Mr Willis was pulled off during the attack last October when a passer-by was alerted by screams.
Giving evidence at Exeter Crown Court Ms Pearson said she was sure she was going to be killed and her body dumped in the graveyard.
The prosecution said the assault followed five years of stalking which included attacks on Ms Pearson's flat and car, and threatening letters and phone calls.
She told the jury it left her "sick, ill and absolutely terrified" and it was "five years of hell".
During her evidence on Monday, Ms Pearson said the accused, of Exe Street, Exeter, had a "murderous" look in his eyes as he pinned her down and tried to stab her in the neck.
A witness said that after being rescued, she said: "It was my stalker."
The court was told the accused allegedly sent poison pen letters to her home branding her a "lying evil girl" and warning her to "watch her back".
Mr Richard Crabb, prosecuting, said Mr Willis, who has admitted wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, was caught on a security camera as he pulled a weapon from his pocket.
Mr Crabb said: "As far as she was concerned, he was going to kill her and it went through her mind the catacombs would be an ideal place to hide a body. Throughout all this he did not utter a single word."
The jury was told Ms Pearson had reported 125 separate incidents to Devon and Cornwall Police regarding stalking.
The trial continues.


Sunderland and Burnley will contest a third-round replay after playing out a dire goalless draw in front of under 18,000 fans at the Stadium of Light.

Media playback is not supported on this device
The Clarets, who included Joey Barton for the first time since he re-joined the club, went close when Sam Vokes was put clear but saw his shot saved.
The visitors had the better chances but keeper Nick Hope did well to tip a Jack Rodwell shot over the bar.
And Burnley almost won it when James Tarkowski's header struck the post.
Sunderland - 18th in the Premier League - will travel to Turf Moor for the replay on 17 or 18 January.
Sunderland have averaged crowds of more than 40,000 in the league this season. Those that stayed away for this cup commitment did not miss a sudden injection of attacking flair.
Black Cats' boss David Moyes will perhaps be less content with a replay than opposite number Sean Dyche, with his side unquestionably in a relegation scrap.
No Premier League club has more players at the Africa Cup of Nations tournament in Gabon but Moyes can draw some comfort from the fact his side are showing some signs of resilience.
This stalemate followed a draw with high-flying Liverpool, and Sunderland have now avoided defeat in six of their last 11 games - form better than Burnley's.
But a lack of creativity and guile is evident. Top-scorer Jermain Defoe barely saw sight of goal as those around him lacked inspiration.
There were fleeting moments of promise, notably when Javier Manquillo broke through only for his pull-back to evade those in support.
Dyche included Barton as one of six changes from Burnley's defeat at Manchester City.
The midfielder, who could still face an FA ban for breaching betting rules, was solid as the usual away-day theme for the Clarets continued.
Just three goals on the road this season has proven costly as they remain without a win away from Turf Moor in 2016-17.
Andre Gray almost added to the haul early on but fired over and Tarkowski's powerful header in the second period was a fraction from earning the win.
Dyche may be concerned about the lack of away-day firepower but he has the comfort of knowing only Tottenham and Chelsea have more home league wins in the campaign.
Those home comforts could prove crucial as Burnley bid for a fourth round spot for just the second time in six seasons.
Sunderland manager David Moyes: "A slog for everybody. It was a really poor game. Two teams probably not trying to go completely full out. It's disappointing we didn't get through but at least we are still in the hat.
"I think with 10, 15 minutes to go, they were the better team and it looked as if they were going to score, so I think if you gave me it with 10, 15 to minutes to go, I might have said, 'Yes, I'll take it'."
Burnley manager Sean Dyche: "As the game wore on, we made three or four promising opportunities, but then two or three really golden chances and on another day I think we win the match.
"A lot has been made of our away league form, but you can see that we want to take the game on and win games and that was evident today with the group.  I was really pleased with the mentality, particularly as the game wore on."
Match ends, Sunderland 0, Burnley 0.
Second Half ends, Sunderland 0, Burnley 0.
Attempt missed. Ashley Barnes (Burnley) right footed shot from the right side of the box is too high.
Joey Barton (Burnley) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Adnan Januzaj (Sunderland) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Joey Barton (Burnley).
Attempt missed. Sam Vokes (Burnley) header from the centre of the box is too high following a corner.
Corner,  Burnley. Conceded by Patrick van Aanholt.
Substitution, Sunderland. John O'Shea replaces Sebastian Larsson.
Delay in match Jason Denayer (Sunderland) because of an injury.
Attempt missed. Jeff Hendrick (Burnley) right footed shot from outside the box is high and wide to the right.
Donald Love (Sunderland) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Joey Barton (Burnley).
Hand ball by Jermain Defoe (Sunderland).
Attempt missed. Jeff Hendrick (Burnley) right footed shot from the centre of the box misses to the right following a corner.
James Tarkowski (Burnley) hits the right post with a header from the centre of the box following a corner.
Corner,  Burnley. Conceded by Papy Djilobodji.
Foul by Adnan Januzaj (Sunderland).
Tendayi Darikwa (Burnley) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Substitution, Burnley. Jeff Hendrick replaces Johann Berg Gudmundsson because of an injury.
Substitution, Burnley. Ashley Barnes replaces Andre Gray.
Attempt saved. Fabio Borini (Sunderland) right footed shot from the right side of the box is saved in the centre of the goal.
Tendayi Darikwa (Burnley) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Adnan Januzaj (Sunderland) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Tendayi Darikwa (Burnley).
Jack Rodwell (Sunderland) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Joey Barton (Burnley).
Substitution, Burnley. Michael Kightly replaces Scott Arfield because of an injury.
Delay over. They are ready to continue.
Delay in match Scott Arfield (Burnley) because of an injury.
Attempt saved. Jack Rodwell (Sunderland) left footed shot from outside the box is saved in the top left corner.
Corner,  Sunderland. Conceded by Nick Pope.
Javier Manquillo (Sunderland) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Joey Barton (Burnley).
Foul by Jason Denayer (Sunderland).
Andre Gray (Burnley) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Attempt missed. Jack Rodwell (Sunderland) left footed shot from outside the box is too high following a corner.
Corner,  Sunderland. Conceded by James Tarkowski.
Papy Djilobodji (Sunderland) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Andre Gray (Burnley).


Former British number one Laura Robson's comeback from a wrist injury has stalled again.

The 22-year-old has pulled out of what was set to be her first WTA Tour event of the season in Monterrey next week.
Robson played in eight events last season after returning from a 17-month lay-off, but had to end her season early after suffering a relapse.
Now ranked 553 in the world, Robson began her latest comeback in two low-key events last month.
She chose not to use her protected ranking of 58 to gain direct entry into January's Australian Open and has targeted the French Open in May as a possible Grand Slam return.
Robson is still hoping to play at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells next month, one of the biggest tournaments on the WTA Tour.


Police have identified a Leswalt woman who was killed in a two-van crash on the A75 near Eastriggs at the weekend.

Margaret Deacon, 67, died at the scene of the accident which happened at 11:15 on Saturday.
The crash involved a white Renault Traffic van and a white Mercedes Sprinter van.
Ms Deacon was a passenger in the Mercedes van. Another passenger, a 42-year-old woman from Kirkcolm, is being treated in Dumfries Infirmary.
She is understood to have a serious head injury.
A full crash investigation was carried out at the time.
Sgt Billy Broatch has appealed for anyone who may have been on the road at the time and may have information to contact police.


Looking ever so slightly bemused, like a model pupil who has stumbled across a playground fight, Patrick Harvie of the Greens tried to lift the mood in Holyrood by wishing every single MSP "all the best for the summer".

Outside, the rain poured down, passing effortlessly from torrent to monsoon. The storm assaulted the Parliamentary windows with unyielding ferocity.
Still, despite that, on this last day of the session, our MSPs were in cheery mood, weren't they? Bidding each other a fond temporary farewell?
Chums, they were not.
Ruth Davidson - nearly - called the First Minister a liar. Nicola Sturgeon - almost - implied that the Tory leader was a charlatan. And so the long, last day wore on.
The opening exchanges again featured the question of payments to farmers under a European Union system.
You remember the EU? Transnational organisation? Headquartered in Brussels? Britain's about to leave? Yes, that's the one.
Anyway, these payments are processed for Scotland by the Scottish government. And the system has been less than utile. Indeed, it has been so ineffective that it has attracted some notably agricultural terms of abuse, mostly connected with fertiliser.
Last week at this time, Ms Davidson, she who leads the Tories, asked the First Minister - twice - whether her government had applied to the European Commission for an extension of the deadline by which the cash was due to be distributed.
Ms Sturgeon replied on each occasion that her government was pursuing contingency arrangements, without being more specific. It subsequently emerged, from journalistic endeavour, that an application for a potential extension had indeed been submitted.
Ms Davidson was less than pleased - and said so. Cue uproar in the chamber, some of which was authentic.
Amid the noise, Ms Davidson stood silent upon a peak in Darien (I know, meaningless; I just admire Keats).  She gave the chamber a steady, basilisk stare. Full of menace and exasperation.
Then she continued. Ministers, she said, were meant to give accurate and truthful answers. Did the FM think she had met that standard? (Translation: pants on fire.)
Did the First Minister buckle? Did she plead for mercy, blaming the weather and Brexit? What do you reckon? Yes, thought you might say that.
Ms Sturgeon said her reply last week had been precise and accurate. They were indeed examining contingency plans with the Commission. Those included, it transpired, an extension of the deadline.
Mayhap the FM recognised that this was not entirely the most open and comprehensive of responses. So she essayed a couple of other stratagems.
One, pragmatism. Farmers, she argued, did not want to hear about who said what, when. They wanted their dosh. The SG was exerting every sinew to get it to them - and had, in any case, previously offered covering loans.
Two, politics. Ms Davidson had, unaccountably, failed to mention the confidence and supply deal between Theresa May and the DUP, with its attendant Â£1bn transfer of cash to NI. Further, no doubt due to a lack of time, the Tory leader had neglected to refer to the row over demands for Scotland to get comparable lolly.
Nicola Sturgeon, ever helpful, decided to remedy these oversights.  She advised the chamber to forget farm payments and concentrate on the ineffectiveness of the Tories at Westminster instead.
The FM then turned directly upon Ruth Davidson, who was recently appointed Honorary Colonel of her old regiment, 32 Signal - and was depicted in battle dress as a result. (At least, I think it is battle dress. My experience of uniform is limited to a happy spell in the Cubs.)
Summoning up every scintilla of sarcasm, Ms Sturgeon characterised Ms Davidson as "all mouth and no trousers, camouflage or otherwise."
Rising in her turn, Kezia Dugdale for Labour looked momentarily discomfited by the venomous exchanges.  But she rallied speedily to demand more moolah for Scotland's schools.
There followed a statistical war. Schools were being short-changed, said Ms Dugdale. No they were not, said Ms Sturgeon, citing the range of funds available.
The Labour leader expanded the exchange a little. Schools needed "cold, hard cash", not "Tory reforms". By which one presumes she means the notion of giving more power to head teachers, rather than councils.
Ms Sturgeon demurred.
Then it was on to Patrick Harvie's plaintive appeal to try a little tenderness, allied to an argument that more resources should be devoted to alleviating child poverty in Scotland. Ms Sturgeon gave the reply emollient.
And finally Willie Rennie. He opened with his weekly topic, the problems afflicting the police. But he swiftly broadened his challenge into a bewildering array of complaints, designed to adduce a suggestion of governmental drift.
These included the farm payments row (already cited); the Fraser of Allander Institute report on Scotland's precarious economy; and finally the Scottish Cabinet reshuffle which, as he truthfully acknowledged, hadn't happened.
Ms Sturgeon rose slowly, seeming faintly bemused. Mr Rennie, she said, appeared to "live in a wee world of his own." (He does. It's called Fife.)
Perhaps, she mused, she should partake of a little of whatever the Lib Dem leader was on. To emphasise, dear reader, this was a further outburst of First Ministerial satire and sarcasm. Not, I feel certain, a prescription for a happy summer.


The newly-crowned winner of a German TV singing contest has admitted in court to defrauding pensioners.

Severino Seeger won â‚¬500,000 (Â£360,000; $530,900) on the show, Germany's Quest for a Superstar (DSDS) last month.
The 28-year-old was accused of being part of a gang that tricked victims, mainly elderly women, out about â‚¬19,000 using a bank card scam.
Reports say the court hearing in Frankfurt was delayed until after the DSDS final.
Mr Seeger appeared before a judge on Tuesday as the court was due to hear testimony from several elderly witnesses.
Local media showed images of fans crowding around the building, some wearing T-shirts with the slogan "Superstar 2015: Prince of hearts".
The singer is alleged to have posed a as bank employee to help collect cards and pin numbers from victims, many of them older women.
Gang members - several of whom have already been convicted - called their targets to tell them their cards needed to be checked because of technical problems.
The oldest victim is said to have been 88 years old.
Mr Seeger told the court he had just separated from his first wife when he was manipulated by a number of people including a cousin, according to German media.
"I said yes because I was stupid," he said.
He was earlier quoted as saying he was "ashamed" of what he had done. "I will pay the money back to the cent," he told Bild newspaper.
The singer was voted winner of the 12th series of DSDS - part of the "Idol" franchise - in mid-May with the song Hero Of My Heart, written by Dieter Bohlen who is also a judge on the show.
As well as the prize money, Mr Seeger, from the town of Waechtersbach, north-west of Frankfurt, won a top recording contract.
He had been due to appear in court in March, according to reports. However his hearing was said to have been delayed initially after the judge fell ill, and later postponed due to his participation in the RTL TV show.
RTL said it would not comment until after the court had given its verdict, expected on 10 June.


Hosts India revived their World Twenty20 hopes by beating fierce rivals Pakistan by six wickets in Kolkata.

On a difficult surface in a rain-affected match of 18 overs a side, Virat Kohli's unbeaten 55 took India to their target of 119 in 15.5 overs.
Pakistan scraped 28 from their first six overs, but were dragged to 118-5 by Shoaib Malik (26) and Umar Akmal (22).
India have now played Pakistan in 11 matches at World Cups and World T20s without ever being defeated.
The pre-tournament favourites, who lost their first match to New Zealand, can still reach the semi-finals if they beat Australia and Bangladesh.
Pakistan too are still in the hunt for a last-four spot, but face tougher tests against the Australians and unbeaten Kiwis.
This was the most eagerly anticipated match of the competition, between two fierce rivals who seldom meet outside of international tournaments because of political tensions.
Indeed, the contest was moved from the Himalayan city of Dharamsala to Kolkata on security grounds, with Pakistan only agreeing to participate in the tournament on 11 March after receiving assurances from the Indian government.
More than 60,000 raucous fans packed into Eden Gardens, with crowds queuing outside well after play began, while some estimations put the global TV audience at one billion.
However, the contest itself was not particularly memorable, with the wicket making batting difficult for all but the brilliant Kohli.
The match was dominated by the surface on which it was played, with the amount of assistance offered to the slow bowlers at times making batting impossible.
India spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravi Jadeja in particular found sharp, spitting turn, often leaving the batsmen some distance from making contact with the ball.
For their part, Pakistan mis-read the conditions, omitting left-arm spinner Imad Wasim in favour of pace bowler Mohammad Sami, who did at least justify his selection by bowling both Shikhar Dhawan and Suresh Raina in successive deliveries.
It was a pitch that divided opinion, with some believing that T20 cricket should be about scoring runs, while others found it refreshing that bowlers were given the advantage.
After struggling against Ashwin and Jadeja, Pakistan were only taken to a competitive total by Malik and Akmal, who finally found regular boundaries against the pace bowlers later in the innings.
Pakistan's hopes were further raised when Sami extracted extra bounce to have Dhawan and Raina play on to their stumps in almost identical fashion.
Kohli remained, though, and took the sting out the situation in a stand of 61 with Yuvraj Singh.
The right-hander played some superb cover drives and guides behind point, bowing down to former India batsman Sachin Tendulkar, who was in the crowd, when he passed 50.
In the next over, MS Dhoni hit the winning runs, and Kohli celebrated with more adulation of Tendulkar.
Man of the match Virat Kohli: "It was a challenging wicket but you need that as a cricketer. It was about keeping calm and luckily I had a great partnership with Yuvraj and we pulled the team out of trouble."
Pakistan face the challenge of New Zealand, who have won their opening two games, in Chandigarh on Tuesday, while India will be confident of beating Bangladesh in Bangalore a day later.


Dozens of US State Department officials have signed an internal memo protesting against US policy in Syria and calling for targeted military strikes against President Bashar al-Assad's government.

They argue the current approach is working against the Syrian opposition and helping Mr Assad to stay in power.
It was signed by 51 mid-to-high level officials who advise on Syria issues.
It is not unusual for internal "dissent cables" to be filed through State Department channels.
However, it is rare to have this number of diplomats voice opposition to a White House position.
A State Department spokesman acknowledged receipt of the memo but declined to comment on its contents.
However, an official familiar with the letter told the BBC that it was sent "because the status quo is not sustainable".
What is left after five years of war?
Why is there a war in Syria?
Profile: Aleppo, Syria's second city
Life inside rebel-held Aleppo
The document urges a credible threat of military action against the Assad government. Otherwise, it says, Damascus will feel no pressure to negotiate with the rebels.
This reflects concerns that the collapse of a joint US-Russian peace process is benefitting the regime.
There have been violations of the ceasefire by both the opposition and the government.
But President Assad has openly defied the truce, and his forces, backed militarily by Iran and Russia, seem intent on regaining strategic territory such as the crucial city of Aleppo.
Moscow argues that it is supporting strikes against jihadist insurgents not covered by the ceasefire.
But Secretary of State John Kerry, who has pushed opposition groups to lay down their arms, is growing increasingly frustrated as the Syrian regime continues to change facts on the ground while he calls for diplomacy.
"The United States is not going to sit there and be used as an instrument that permits a so-called ceasefire to be in place while one principal party is trying to take advantage of it to the detriment of the entire process," he said recently.
Mr Kerry has pressed the administration for tougher action against the regime in order to force it to the negotiating table, and signatories to the dissent letter believe he'll be sympathetic to their concerns, according to sources involved in the process.
But that's unlikely to sway the Obama administration, which has prioritised the fight against so called Islamic State (IS) in Syria and largely stayed clear of the civil war.
President Obama is wary of being drawn into another Mid-East conflict after the messy results of US intervention in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya.
However, his possible successor, presumptive Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, has argued for a more assertive policy in Syria, including stronger support for non-Islamist rebels.
Perhaps the letter is aimed as much at her as it is at Mr Kerry.


MPs want stricter regulation of how police use biometric technologies.

The Commons Science and Technology Committee said it was "alarmed" that police in England and Wales had collected the mugshots of innocent and guilty people alike.
Last month, BBC Newsnight revealed police were holding 18 million images to use with facial recognition tech.
The government said the technology had an "important role" but images had to be used "in accordance with the law".
Committee chairman Andrew Miller said the MPs were not opposed to the use of biometric technologies to combat crime.
"But we were alarmed to discover that the police have begun uploading custody photographs of people to the Police National Database and using facial recognition software without any regulatory oversight - some of the people had not even been charged."
The MPs said there had been a "worrying" lack of government oversight and regulation of the use of biometrics by public bodies.
They highlighted a 2012 High Court ruling that the police's policy on retention of mugshots at that time was "unlawful" - but that nothing had changed as a result.
The MPs recommended that the police's maintenance of its database and associated use of facial recognition technology should be brought into the jurisdiction of the Biometrics Commissioner, Alastair MacGregor QC.
The commissioner has previously expressed concern about the implications of the police's system for privacy and civil liberties.
The committee also called on the government to open a public debate about how public bodies used biometric data.
It said it was "inexcusable" that a government report into the risks and benefits of using the data had not yet been published, despite being due in 2013.
According to campaign group Big Brother Watch, the committee's report highlights how the current use of biometrics could erode the public's "already fragile opinion of the technology".
A spokesman said: "It is unacceptable for innocent people to be treated in the same way as those who have been found to be guilty of a crime. [The police] database, as it stands, does just that.
"The fact that two years have passed since the retention of these photographs was ruled illegal and nothing has yet been done to rectify it, is totally unacceptable."
A BBC Newsnight report on 3 February revealed that the database maintained by forces in England and Wales included photos of people who had never been charged with a crime, as well as those of people acquitted.
The images were uploaded without Home Office approval, the programme reported.
But privacy groups say the Home Office itself needs to do more to control surveillance.
Jim Killock, the executive director of the Open Rights Group, said: "It's incredibly easy for surveillance powers to grow just because technology gets easier.
"That's what the Home Office doesn't like to tell you when they demand new surveillance laws - intrusive technologies deliver more police powers all on their own. Surveillance needs regulating and oversight rather than extra help to grow."
His comments were echoed by Privacy International executive director Dr Gus Hosein.
Dr Hosein said people should assume the Home Office was "hoping that secret deployment of surveillance techniques will go unnoticed. Fortunately, on this occasion, Parliament is demanding more of them".
Mr Miller acknowledged that biometrics involved "risks and raise important ethical and legal questions relating to privacy and autonomy".
However, he insisted that they could play a key role in people's lives.
"As we struggle to remember ever more passwords and pin numbers in everyday life, the potential benefits of using biometric technologies to verify identity are obvious."
Lord Bates, the minister for criminal information, defended the use of mugshots and facial recognition technology, saying it played an "important role".
But, he said, the images should be used in accordance with the law.
He said the government needed to find a balance between public protection and civil liberties and said it was reviewing how police use custody images.
Ch Con Mike Barton, of the Association of Chief Police Officers, said that, while DNA and fingerprints were covered by existing legislation, the management of custody images was not.
"Police have used existing guidance on the 'Management of Police Information (MoPI)' to agree principles upon which we review, retain and delete these images. This varies dependent on factors such as age and the type of crime," he said.


India's National Green Tribunal has told the government not to buy any more diesel vehicles amid worsening pollution in the capital, Delhi.

The order will apply to the federal and local Delhi governments.
India's Supreme Court will hear a plea against private ownership of diesel vehicles on 15 December.
Delhi is experiencing hazardous levels of pollution due to diesel emissions, construction dirt and the burning of crop stubble in farms around the city.
Air pollution causes more than 600,000 premature deaths in India each year.
The tribunal order will not apply to private owners of diesel cars, Delhi government lawyer NP Singh told the BBC.
However, the country's top court is due to hear a petition asking for the banning of privately-owned diesel vehicles next week.
In recent days, pollution levels in Delhi have reached alarming levels and last week, the Delhi high court said the city resembled a "gas chamber".
The Delhi government then announced that from 1 January 2016, private vehicles with odd and even registration numbers would only be allowed to operate on alternate days.
The transport department would run extra buses, a government official said.
New car sales are soaring in India, with 1,400 extra cars taking to the capital's streets every day.
Earlier this month, India said it would require vehicles to abide by stricter emissions standards by 2019, three years ahead of a previous deadline.
Last month on the night of Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, air pollution in Delhi reached 40 times the limit recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
The capital city is not alone - India has 13 of the world's 20 most polluted cities, the WHO reported last year.


Egypt says a search for the resting place of the pharaonic Queen Nefertiti has revealed possible "organic material" inside empty spaces behind two walls in the tomb of Tutankhamun.

The antiquities minister said radar scans carried out in November pointed to "different things behind the walls".
A more advanced scan will be conducted later this month to ascertain whether the empty spaces are in fact chambers.
A British Egyptologist believes Nefertiti was buried there.
She ruled in the 14th Century BC, and may have been Tutankhamun's mother.
His tomb was discovered in 1922 by British archaeologist Howard Carter.
Announcing the results of November's scans on Thursday, Antiquities Minister Mamdouh el-Damaty said they had revealed the presence of two empty spaces behind two walls of the burial chamber.
"We can say more than 90% that the chambers are there. But I never start the next step until I'm 100%."
"[The scans point to] different things behind the walls, different material that could be metal, could be organic."
He added: "For Egypt it is a very big discovery, could be discovery of the century."
"It is very important for the Egyptian history and for all over the world."
The British Egyptologist Dr Nicholas Reeves believes the remains of Tutankhamun, who died 3,000 years ago aged 19, may have been rushed into an outer chamber of what was originally Nefertiti's tomb.
He posited in early 2015 that Nefertiti may have been buried there too after examining scans of the tomb, near the site of the original Valley of the Kings in Luxor.
Tutankhamun's tomb was the most intact ever discovered in Egypt. Close to 2,000 objects were found inside.
But its layout has been a puzzle for some time - in particular, why it was smaller than those of other pharaohs' tombs.
Dr Reeves believes there are clues in the design of the tomb that indicate it was intended to store the remains of a queen. His theory has yet to be peer-reviewed and leading Egyptologists have urged caution over the conclusion.
Some believe that Nefertiti's mummy was discovered in 1898 and is now in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.


A political row has broken out over remarks made by the Northern Ireland health minister Jim Wells.

Social Media erupted on Thursday night over a video purportedly showing Mr Wells linking child abuse and gay relationships.
It was taken at a hustings for the South Down constituency.
The DUP MLA allegedly suggested that homosexual couples were more likely to be in unstable relationships and children were vulnerable as a result.
Alliance North Down MLA, Stephen Farry, has said that Mr Wells must apologise and retract the remarks he made.
"Alliance will be looking to raise this matter with assembly officials and ask them to investigate whether he has broken any assembly rules," he added.
SDLP MLA Colum Eastwood said Mr Wells must immediately withdraw "these comments and issue a full apology".
He said Mr Wells had gone "far beyond the limits of acceptable behaviour".
Mr Wells said that during a debate in South Down on Thursday evening, he refused to agree with an audience member that "marriage should be redefined".
"I oppose the redefinition of marriage.  Indeed the assembly has voted three times on this matter and every time a cross party selection of MLAs have supported the current definition of marriage," he said.
"At the hustings event, I said that marriage was a stable environment to raise children. I am saddened that some people were trying to misrepresent my comments.
"Where there are non-stable relationships involving children, whether heterosexual or homosexual, the children suffer.  I make no distinction between anyone who neglects a child on the basis of their sexual orientation."


The family of UK-born American hostage Luke Somers have appealed in a video to al-Qaeda militants in Yemen to "show mercy" and release him.

In the online statement, his mother, Paula Somers, says: "Please... give us an opportunity to see our Luke again."
A man identifying himself as Mr Somers, who was abducted in 2013, appeared in a separate video on Wednesday, saying his life was in danger and asking for help.
The US has revealed it tried to rescue him last month.
"Regrettably, Luke was not present, though hostages of other nationalities were present and were rescued," the National Security Council said on Thursday.
In a video posted on YouTube, Mr Somers' mother and brother said he was "only trying to do good things for the Yemeni population".
"Luke is only a photojournalist and is not responsible for any actions the US government has taken," his brother, Jordan, said.
Noting that her son "appears healthy" in his captors' video, Paula Somers said: "We thank you for that."
Mr Somers, 33, worked as a journalist and photographer for local news organisations and his material appeared on international news outlets, including the BBC News website.
In the video released on Wednesday, a member of al-Qaeda in the Arab Peninsula (AQAP) threatens to kill him unless unspecified demands are met.
In a statement afterwards, the White House said President Barack Obama had authorised a rescue operation to free Mr Somers and other hostages last month, but that Mr Somers was not present at the time of the raid.
On 25 November, US and Yemeni forces rescued six Yemenis, a Saudi and an Ethiopian being held by AQAP in an operation at a mountain cave in the remote Hajr al-Sayar district of Hadramawt province. Seven militants were reportedly killed.
US National Security Council spokeswoman Bernadette Meehan said: "As soon as the US government had reliable intelligence and an operational plan, the president authorised the department of defence to conduct an operation to recover Mr Somers."
She added: "The details of the operation remain classified.
"The overriding concern for Mr Somers' safety and the safety of the US forces who undertake these missions made it imperative that we not disclose information related to Mr Somers' captivity and the attempted rescue."
Ms Meehan said the president "could not be prouder" of the US forces who carried out the mission.
AQAP's threat to kill Mr Somers follows the murder of five Western hostages - including three Americans - since August by the Islamist militant group Islamic State, which controls parts of Syria and Iraq.
Scrutiny of US policy on dealing with kidnappers has increased following the killings, reports the BBC's Aleem Maqbool in Washington.
The Obama administration has been criticised for not paying ransoms, not allowing hostage families to speak out and not taking opportunities to negotiate.
While the White House stands by its policies, the president has ordered a review, our correspondent says.
AQAP is regarded by the US as one of the deadliest offshoots of al-Qaeda.
The group is based in eastern Yemen and has built up support amid the unrest which has beset the impoverished country since the overthrow of President Ali Abdullah Saleh in 2011.


Leinster earned a dominant win in the Pro12 Irish derby after a sloppy first-half display by under-strength Ulster.

Unlike Ulster, Leinster had most of their internationals, but uncapped Rory O'Loughlin scored two of their tries.
O'Loughlin exploited dreadful defending to score his first try and Ulster were asleep as scrum-half Luke McGrath ran in a second after a quick line-out.
Wing O'Loughlin scored his second try after half-time, and Charles Piutau's try prevented Ulster being whitewashed.
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Leinster were able to punch holes in Ulster's defence at will in the first half as the visiting pack badly missed Rory Best and Iain Henderson, who were rested because of the IRFU's player management programme.
Ulster will look back on a missed chance by Tommy Bowe when they were 10-0 down midway through the first half, but the visitors' lack of line speed in defence and physicality during the crucial opening period were the key factors.
Ulster did prevent Leinster achieving a bonus point, but the home side's win still moved them above the Ospreys into second place.
With Jamie Heaslip, Sean O'Brien, Josh van der Flier, Sean Cronin and Garry Ringrose all back after missing Monday's 29-17 defeat by Munster, Leinster looked to have the stronger hand, and so it proved.
Ulster welcomed back Andrew Trimble after a six-week injury absence but his return never looked likely to offset the absence of Best, Henderson and fly-half Paddy Jackson.
Jackson's absence meant a switch to fly-half for Ruan Pienaar but the South African looked uncomfortable in the role during the crucial opening period, which included two penalty misses.
O'Loughlin, with remarkable ease, ran from inside his own half to score his sixth-minute try as he sped past Trimble and Paul Marshall after finding a gap between Pienaar and Stuart McCloskey.
With superb lock Hayden Triggs and the ever-industrious Jack McGrath among Leinster's energetic ball-carriers, a Nacewa penalty increased their advantage.
But Bowe wasted an immediate chance to reply as he fumbled with the line seemingly gaping following O'Brien's misfield from the kick-off.
Leinster's second try was a horror show for Ulster as Cronin's quick line-out to Jack McGrath at the front allowed the prop to set up his scrum-half namesake to score.
Trailing 17-0 at the break, it got worse for Ulster immediately after the restart as impressive fly-half Ross Byrne's grubber kick in behind a badly positioned Piutau set up O'Loughlin's second touchdown.
To Piutau's credit, he was Ulster's most impressive performer by a distance as his carry count by the end of the contest reached 15.
After wasting a series of chances to open their account - even during Jack McGrath's sin-binning - Ulster eventually did register on the scoreboard as the New Zealand star ran through in the 77th minute following a clever no-look pass from Pienaar.
Ulster director of rugby Les Kiss: "It wasn't the start we wanted. I give credit to Leinster. They ramped it up and very very clinical.
"We're disappointed but we expected nothing else from Leinster. They've been doing that to teams all year.
"We were being physical but we were being outsmarted a few times. When we got into their territory, we were not clinical enough."
Leinster wing Rory O'Loughlin: "We're disappointed not to get the bonus point seeing as we scored so early in the second half.
"We got the win and that's what we came from but there's much to improve on."
Leinster: I Nacewa (capt); A Byrne, G Ringrose, N Reid, R O'Loughlin; R Byrne, L McGrath; J McGrath, S Cronin, M Bent, D Toner, H Triggs, S O'Brien, J van der Flier, J Heaslip.
Replacements: R Strauss for Cronin 60, A Porter for A Byrne 57, J Loughman for Porter 65, M Kearney for Triggs 66, J Conan for O'Brien 68, J Gibson-Park for L McGrath 60, T Daly R Byrne 68, Z Kirchner for O'Loughlin 66.
Ulster: C Piutau: A Trimble, D Cave, S McCloskey, T Bowe; R Pienaar, P Marshall; A Warwick, R Herring (capt), R Ah You, K Treadwell, F van der Merwe, C Ross, S Reidy, R Wilson.
Replacements: J Andrew for Herring 28, C Black for Warwick 65, J Simpson for Ah You 48, P Browne for van der Merwe 73, C Henry for Wilson 54, B Herron for P Marshall 74, L Ludik for Trimble 59, J Stockdale for Bowe 66.
Referee: J Lacey (Ireland)


London Irish's return to the capital appears a step closer after their application to play at Brentford FC's proposed new stadium was approved.

Hounslow Borough Council met on Thursday to consider a rugby licence for the Lionel Road site.
Brentford hope to leave their Griffin Park home and move to the 20,000-capacity stadium in August 2019.
"The council's decision is very encouraging news for London Irish," Irish chief executive Bob Casey said.
RFU Championship club Irish play their home games at Reading's Madejski Stadium, and are contracted to groundshare until the 2025-26 season.
But a get-out clause can allow the deal to break early, so they can move to west London. Negotiations were opened in September with the council.
"The ability for a professional rugby club to also play at the new Brentford Community Stadium has always been a desire of the football club," Casey said.
"London Irish share common values and a community ethos with Brentford FC, which augers well for a future commercial relationship."


Reports of child rape to police in England and Wales have risen by 37% over the last five years, figures show.

There were 5,674 recorded cases of child rape in 2009/10 and 7,775 cases in 2013/14, said Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC).
But less than a third of child rapes cases lead to suspects being charged or summonsed, according to the figures.
Recorded adult rapes rose 38% from 9,383 in 2009/10 to 12,952 in 2013/14 according to the report.
About a fifth of adult cases lead to suspects being charged or summonsed.
The Metropolitan Police recorded the highest number of adult rapes per 100,000 people in 2013/14 with 3,056, while Dyfed-Powys was lowest with 62.
The North Wales force recorded the highest number of child rape cases per 100,000 people with 144 in 2013/14 while Hertfordshire recorded the lowest number with 73.
Essex, Kent and Suffolk forces came bottom of the table of charges or summons for cases of child rape, with 21% of cases resulting in action.
Northumbria came top of the same table with 47% of cases seeing charges or a summons.
Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said: "These figures are extremely disturbing and a shocking indictment of the widening justice gap created by this government.
"Over the last four years, there has been a dire trend in recorded incidents of rape going up, but prosecutions and convictions going down.
"Rape and the sexual abuse of a child are some of the most abhorrent and heinous crimes. And victims deserve justice."
Crime prevention minister Lynne Featherstone said rape sentencing lengths were up and the total number of rape prosecutions in England and Wales was up, from 3,819 in 2009/10 to 3,891 in 2013/14.
"The coalition government is clear that every report of rape must be taken seriously, every victim must be treated with dignity and every investigation must be conducted thoroughly and professionally," she said.
"The increase in the number of rapes being reported to police is encouraging as it shows more victims are finding the courage to come forward."
Paul Ford, secretary of the Police Federation National Detectives' Forum, said: "Policing is under significant pressure through budget cuts and this is having an impact on the level of service that policing can provide to victims."
Devon and Cornwall has one of the highest rates of recorded adult and child rape.
Yet only 15% of adult rape cases and 27% of child rape cases result in a charge or summons according to the figures.
The force's Police and Crime Commissioner Tony Hogg said police performance on rape was under "regular review".
Fee Scott of Devon Rape Crisis said: "We will get a lot better outcomes if we believed people and we don't judge them on what they were wearing, doing, saying or drinking.
"All of that stops women coming forward because they are fearful of the reaction they will get from the authorities.
"This report gives a very depressing picture of what the outcome might be."


The Scottish Police Federation has said officers must not be "considered expendable" when dealing with terrorist attacks.

General secretary Calum Steele said unarmed officers were likely to be the first to respond to an incident.
But he asked: "How fair it is to expect them to do that when they are facing people intent on causing death and injury?"
Police Scotland has insisted its officers are appropriately resourced.
Michael Matheson, Scotland's cabinet secretary for justice, said the matter was being kept under "constant review".
Mr Steele told BBC Radio's Good Morning Scotland programme: "We have to ask how realistic it is in this day and age, with the threat that we face at this moment in time, how we expect unarmed police officers - and in the vast majority of cases it will be unarmed officers that will be the first to attend, or happen across those who are committing these attacks - how fair it is to expect them to do that when they are facing people intent on causing death and injury?"
He said the likelihood of armed officers being the first to attend such an incident was "very low indeed" in certain areas.
It was announced last year that the number of armed officers in Scotland was increasing from 250 to 374.
But Mr Steele said: "Let's not kid ourselves that that's extra police officers, because those armed police officers are coming from the contingent of other officers out there.
"When we consider that the fight against terrorism has to be about more than just guns and armed officers, that is more police officers that are being taken out of communities where evidence and intelligence is capable of being gathered, where community relations are being built."
He added: "The police service cannot fight terrorism on its own and the intelligence services cannot fight terrorism on their own. As well as having the capability to gather intelligence and to form relationships and to build trust in our communities, we also have to have the tactical capabilities to respond.
"But we have to make sure we don't have police officers in a situation where they are likely to be considered expendable because they do not have the personal, protective equipment to look after themselves.
"We have police officers that are facing guns, knives, extreme violence and they do not have the capability of protecting themselves.
"How many police officers have to be killed, maimed or injured for that to be considered an acceptable price for what we're dealing with today?"
On Sunday, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said Scotland would see a "substantial" increase in the number of armed police on duty in the immediate aftermath of the London attack.
However, she said there was no intelligence of any specific threat to Scotland.
Assistant Chief Constable Nelson Telfer said Police Scotland had enough officers on the streets to respond to major incidents.
He told BBC Scotland: "We've increased our visible police presence, we've stood up more armed police, we've responded in the past to tragic events similar to Saturday night and I'm confident that the numbers in place on our streets are appropriate."
Justice Secretary Michael Matheson said there had been a "significant increase" in the number of firearms officers over the last year.
But he said their deployment was a matter for the chief constable.
"Whether he wishes to deploy them on a more regular basis, then that would be a matter that he would have to consider, but I'm confident from the feedback that I've had from Police Scotland that they believe they have the appropriate resources at present," he said.
"And that's an issue that they continue to keep under review."
Mr Matheson said the force had the "capacity and capability" to increase its firearms presence in the aftermath of the terror attacks in Manchester and London.
"It's important to recognise that firearms is only one aspect of tackling issues such as terrorism," he added.
"The work which is undertaken in local communities by our police and other agencies, in helping to make sure that we are tackling issues around extremism is absolutely crucial as well and that is where they can gather important intelligence around these matters and that measures can be taken at an early stage."
Seven people were killed and 48 injured in the attack in London on Saturday evening.
Three suspects were shot dead by police officers.
The attackers used a white van to hit pedestrians on London Bridge, before getting out and stabbing people in nearby Borough Market at about 22:00.
Police said the men, who were shot dead within eight minutes of the attack starting, were wearing fake bomb vests.
The so-called Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for the attack.


Nordic combined has been a fixture of every Olympic Winter Games since 1924 - a sport which combines ski jumping and cross-country skiing.

A men-only discipline, it asks competitors to tackle the ski jump first, and ends with a race for the gold medal on the cross-country ski course on day two.
Scandinavians have dominated ever since the Nordic combined made its Olympic debut at the Chamonix Games 90 years ago.
The Norwegians are the traditional giants, winning more than half of the gold medals on offer since then, but Austria are now also a force.
Nordic combined offers a tremendous all-round cardio workout thanks to the varied style of the events involved.
Ski Jumping is a high-intensity workout requiring strong balance and flexibility, while cross-country offers a whole-body, low-impact workout. Ski jump cannot, ever, be described as low-impact.
Cross-country skiing is a possibility in some of Britain's more mountainous extremities, but to become a true Nordic combined athlete you will have to head abroad to one of Europe's dedicated ski jump facilities.
However, you should speak to a regional development officer first to see what help is available - and depending on your skill level, you may need considerable time on the slopes beforehand to brush up on your skills.
Snowsport England provides a handy club and slope finder, as do Snowsport Wales and Snowsport Scotland, for those wanting to get started. Snowsport England recommends taking out an insurance policy before you begin.
Originally, Olympic Nordic combined required an 18km cross-country ski followed by the ski jump.
More recently, the cross-country element has been reduced to 10km and takes place following the jump.
There are three types of Nordic combined: the Individual Gundersen, sprint and team competitions.
The Individual Gundersen, or simply the individual event, takes place on the smaller of the two jumping hills. Each competitor has two jumps, judged on length and style using the same rules as the main ski jump competition.
The leader from the ski jump goes first in the freestyle 15km cross-country leg, and the winner is the first man to cross the finishing line.
The name of the individual event comes from the Gundersen method, invented by Norway's Gunder Gundersen, which converts ski jumping points into staggered start times for the cross-country. Think of it as Nordic combined's Duckworth-Lewis method.
In the sprint event, competitors have just one jump on the large hill. The Gundersen method is used to determine start times for a 7.5km cross-country race the following day.
The team event consists of four members taking two jumps each off the normal hill, and the cross-country leg is a 4x5km relay, with the Gundersen method used to work out which team starts first.
Are you inspired to try Nordic Combined? Or maybe you are a keen enthusiast already? Get in touch and tell us your experience of the activity by tweeting us on @bbcgetinspired or email us on getinspired@bbc.co.uk.
See our full list of activity guides for more inspiration.


Everton midfielder Ross Barkley has signed a four-year contract extension with the club.

The 20-year-old scored six Premier League goals last season and was part of the England squad at the World Cup finals in Brazil.
Manager Roberto Martinez said: "It is a four-year deal which reflects his new role and his development. This is as big news as we could get.
"He is still a young man but is a massive part of our squad."
Barkley made his debut for Everton at the start of the 2011-12 season and had loan spells with Sheffield Wednesday and Leeds United before becoming a first-team regular under Martinez last season.
He made his England debut against Moldova in September 2013 and made three appearances at the World Cup.
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He said: "Signing a new contract is a dream. I've played for Everton most of my life. This is a big thing for me."
Chairman Bill Kenwright said: "Everton and Ross have always been the perfect fit - Roberto has made it even more special.
"This was an important agreement and, I have to say, was conducted in a way that showed clearly the devotion to Everton of everyone involved."
Everton have signed midfielders Gareth Barry and Muhamed Besic this summer, while Martinez himself agreed a new five-year deal in June.


A cliff railway which was damaged by a landslide in Bournemouth will not reopen this summer, a council has said.

Rubble fell down the 30m-high (100ft) cliff in East Cliff on 24 April and partially engulfed the Edwardian funicular carriages.
Bournemouth Borough Council said the carriages had been removed but work to stabilise the slope was continuing.
Environment boss Larry Austin said "all options" were being looked at for reinstating the lift.
He said: "We remain committed to the future of a cliff lift. However, it will be some time before these assessments are made and any necessary stabilisation work commences. The cliff lift will not reopen this summer.
"Our next step after the removal of the final debris is a thorough assessment of the site to consider the next course of action."
An abseiling team was used to secure the carriages of the East Cliff Lift to the running rails ahead of their removal.
A temporary road closure remains in place along East Overcliff Drive while the work is carried out.


Hull City have signed Arsenal striker Chuba Akpom on a season-long loan deal.

The 19-year-old is the second Gunners youngster to join the Tigers for the 2015-16 season after midfielder Isaac Hayden, 20, also agreed a loan deal.
Akpom has previously had loan spells with Brentford, Coventry City and Nottingham Forest, but failed to score in 21 league appearances.
He could make his debut for Hull in their Championship opener against Huddersfield on Saturday.
Akpom told the club website: "I'm really happy to be here and I'm looking forward to helping the team push for promotion.
"Hopefully we can be successful and I can help with that. We're going to be one of the stronger teams in the Championship."
Find all the latest football transfers on our dedicated page.


Four executive suites at Notts County Football Club have been opened for fans with autism, to allow them to attend matches comfortably.

The noise at football grounds can prevent some fans with autism from going to games, Notts County ambassador Les Bradd said.
The club is the second in England, after Sunderland, to open dedicated sensory facilities for autistic fans.
The rooms are furnished with soft toys, bubble tubes and ear defenders.
The club completed training with Autism East Midlands as part of developing the rooms and has pledged to become more autism-friendly in future, by signing the Autism Charter.
Notts County head groundsman Trevor Hutchinson, whose daughter has autism, said his ground crew had worked for weeks to get the three suites ready.
"It's an opportunity for children (with autism) to come and watch football in a safe and relaxing and quiet environment.
"These children wouldn't be able to do this if the rooms weren't available."
"Ninety-nine per cent of parents wouldn't take the chance to come to a match because they know it would be a nightmare - they think their child might fall down a stair or knock a drink out of someone's hands."
Mr Bradd, who is the all-time scoring leader for the club, said: "It  is a huge step forward -  we are bringing in different types of fans who couldn't attend matches before because they couldn't cope with the noise and couldn't cope with where they had to sit."


Tornado-like winds damaged a cottage and two other properties in Norfolk as storms and heavy rain lashed the county on Wednesday afternoon.

Power cables were brought down by falling trees in the downpour and debris was sent flying by strong winds.
The freak high wind targeted the home of Jenny and Nick Griffiths at Winfarthing, near Diss.
"Then suddenly out of nowhere the wind made the whole house shake," Mr Griffiths said.
He was upstairs at the time and said the wind suddenly turned into a "massive maelstrom and I was watching all the debris flying round".
His wife was in an outside workshop, which she described as a "fairly flimsy building".
"I heard the wind like a train coming through. It took the parasol out of the garden table and it landed on the roof."
The cottage has lost about a quarter of its tiles, which crashed onto a conservatory causing considerable damage, the couple said.
Cables supplying power to the village were also brought down by falling trees, causing damage to two other properties either side of them.
"It seems the tornado was concentrated on our home," Mr Griffiths said.
Adam Drury of Norwich-based Weatherquest said very strong winds had been reported "but they could only be described as a tornado if they made contact with the ground".
Floods also affected other parts of Norfolk. The fire service reported they had been called out by dozens of residents whose homes have been affected.
Homes in Norwich city centre, Shelfangar near Diss, and East Harling were all affected by the heavy rain.
Anglian Water said drain clearance projects had been carried out over the past year and this had alleviated some problems, but the work involved several other agencies.
"We are carrying out design work and expect to begin improvements from January 2016, with project completion by April 2018," a spokesman said.


The former head of a troubled NHS trust was already doing the new job created for her on top of her previous post, the trust has confirmed.

Katrina Percy stepped down as head of Southern Health in August over "media attention" after it failed to investigate hundreds of deaths.
It was revealed on Wednesday a new Â£240,000 a year post was "created for her" and she was the "only applicant".
A spokesman has confirmed she had already been doing the work.
It was "part of her portfolio as chief executive" since March 2015.
The job involves giving strategic advice to GPs "joining-up" with the wider NHS.
The spokesman said the next 12 months would see a "big transition" as projects were commissioned, taking up a "significant amount of time".
In a statement released on Wednesday afternoon, trust chairman Tim Smart clarified it was a "finite role for a 12-month period".
Nigel Watson, a New Forest GP and chief executive of the Wessex Local Medical Committees, said: "It's not actually a new job... her role for the next year will be to do what she has done before, which was to support and help that integration and transformation.
"I don't know how much time she put into it, but we did quite a lot of work in early mornings and late evenings and she was significant in the contribution to get us to the position where we are now."
A trust spokesman said the role was not previously full time, and occupied her to a "lesser degree".
John Green, the former public governor for Southern Health, said: "It would only have been a part-time activity for her.
"I can't imagine why anyone would pay that kind of money to anybody to provide advice.
"It isn't right... [it's about] finding jobs for people that have been loyal to them."


Chancellor George Osborne has denied his Spending Review U-turn on tax credits was a sign of weakness.

He said he had listened to critics of the planned cuts and was "able to help" because the economy is stronger.
Economists claim low paid families will still be out of pocket due to other changes announced on Wednesday.
Labour's John McDonnell has meanwhile lashed out at "hypocrites" who mocked him for brandishing Chairman Mao's Little Red Book in the Commons.
The shadow chancellor insisted he was being "ironic" and the stunt, during his response to Mr Osborne's Spending Review, had raised an important issue about the sale of UK assets to China in a "flamboyant and jocular" way.
However, he did apologise to a former prisoner in a Maoist labour camp who said she found his use of the communist dictator's words "chilling".
Mr Osborne is touring the media studios to defend his Spending Review and Autumn Statement, which included a total of £21.5bn cuts to a string of Whitehall departments and £12bn in welfare cuts.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Mr Osborne denied the government was being pushed around by its opponents.
He insisted that his central judgement - to save £12bn in welfare spending by 2020 - was the right one but that "people raised concerns and I listened to them".
Improved public finances and a stronger economy have enabled him to "smooth the transition" to a lower welfare, higher wage economy, he added.
But the Spending Review was "not an end to difficult decisions" and he said that government departments still faced difficult choices.
The chancellor was forced to rethink plans to cut £4.4bn from tax credits from April after they were rejected by the House of Lords.
Both the SNP and Labour claim scrapping tax credit cuts was a victory for their parties, who had called for them to be reversed, but they said a fresh squeeze on housing benefits announced on Wednesday and the move to Universal Credit will hit low paid families.
The Resolution Foundation think tank has calculated that once the welfare cuts work their way through, working households on Universal Credit, the replacement for tax credits will lose an average of £1,200 in 2020, rising to £1,300 for those with children. For some families, they say, the loss will be as much as £3,000.
The think tank has also worked out that families at the bottom half will lose on average, £650 from all of the changes made in the Summer Budget and the Autumn Statement.
Overall police spending will be protected in real terms, amounting to an increase of £900m in cash terms by 2019/20, although this also depends on income from local precepts - money raised through council tax by individual forces.
Local councils will also be allowed to levy and extra 2% on council tax to pay for social care.
Analysis by the Office for Budget Responsibility suggests householders are set to pay £2.7bn more in council tax by 2020/2, despite a Conservative manifesto promise to help keep council taxes low.
Other revenue-raising measures included a new 3% surcharge on stamp duty for the purchase of second homes and buy-to-let rental properties.
Other Spending Review announcements include:
Special report: Full in-depth coverage of the Spending Review and Autumn Statement


Police are investigating the apparent pesticide poisoning of four abandoned siblings in rural south-west China.

Aged between five and 13, they appeared to have drunk a bottle of pesticide, officials say. Police have not ruled out suicide.
The parents of the three girls and a boy had reportedly left the village, near Bijie city, in search of work.
The area is one of the poorest in the country and has seen previous deaths of abandoned children.
Chinese state media report that the mother of the four siblings left three years ago, followed by their father in March.
The children had reportedly dropped out of school a month ago, according to the Xinhua news agency. It added that their only food was corn and preserved meat.
The mass urban migration of Chinese parents looking for work has led to millions of children being left behind in villages; many of them are cared for by grandparents.
Correspondents say that such children can be highly vulnerable.
Three years ago there was a national outcry after five abandoned children died in Bijie.
The children had suffocated inside a rubbish bin where they were sheltering, after apparently lighting a fire to keep warm.
Chinese officials have said that at least 80 million people live below the poverty line, surviving on less than $1 (Â£0.65) a day.


A spectacular display of fireworks and giant video projections has launched Hull's year as UK City of Culture.

More than 25,000 people descended on the city's waterfront for the display, which organisers claimed to be bigger than London's New Year's Eve show.
Historic buildings across the city became backdrops for projections illustrating the history of the area.
Organisers said they hoped to attract more than one million extra visitors to Hull during 2017.
As it happened: Hull City of Culture 2017 launch
The UK has seen several huge events marking the start of the 2017, including fireworks and a parade in London, Newcastle's Winter Carnival and Edinburgh's Hogmanay.
In Queen Victoria Square in Hull, thousands of people watched Made in Hull, which saw images of the city's maritime and aviation connections beamed onto the walls of several buildings.
Across the city, shops were turned into art spaces and The Deep aquarium carried a giant projection about the people of the port city.
Historic buildings came to life with stunning animations and archive footage. Normally empty shop windows became cabinets of curiosities. A paved city yard was filled with the noise of a football crowd. There was a rave in an underpass.
Hull wants and needs to get everybody on board for its City of Culture year from the start, so opening 2017 with a free, open-air extravaganza on the streets was a very good move.
The eight art installations in the city centre were not distant or impenetrable - they tried to connect with the city and the people, whether that was through Invisible Flock bringing the surprisingly compelling crowd noise from a Hull City match to Zebedee's Yard, or Urban Projections letting people step into their own instant artworks in the shadow of the tidal barrier.
The centrepoint was Zsolt Balogh's beautiful film weaving together the story of the city, which was projected onto the blank facades of the City Hall, Ferens Art Gallery and Maritime Museum. It ended with the words "We are Hull" writ large - at which point a cheer went up in the crowd.
The fireworks display, called In With A Bang, included 15,000 fireworks and was accompanied by music from some of the city's most famous musical exports.
Martin Green, chief executive of City of Culture, said: "I want nationally and internationally people to see that that this is a fantastic city with great stories, great people and a lot to offer.
"Because every city deserves its moment in the limelight and 2017 is ours."
Hull is the second city to be given UK City Culture status, following Derry-Londonderry in 2013.
The city was selected in 2013 from a shortlist which included Dundee, Leicester and Swansea Bay.
More than £30m is being spent on the year's events and £25m has been invested in revamping the city centre and refurbishing the Ferens Art Gallery and the city's main theatre.
The city will host the Turner Prize and will see hundreds of concerts and other performances throughout the year.
Former Hull Labour MP Lord Prescott said he hoped the event would be a catalyst for change in Hull.
"It's lifted up the spirit of people," he said. "You can rebuild and regenerate and build the confidence of the people by culture."
Hull City Council said more than £1bn of investment has flowed into the city since the UK City of Culture announcement.
Sean McAllister, creative director of Made In Hull, said the city would finally share its cultural secrets with a wider audience during the coming year.
"If you're from Hull, we always knew we had culture, it's just the world didn't know," he said.


Heather Watson was forced to pull out of her opening match at the Wuhan Open with illness just days after saying she had fully recovered from the problems which affected her US Open campaign.

The British number two withdrew against American Madison Brengle in China after complaining of dizziness.
British number one Johanna Konta comfortably reached round two after beating German Annika Beck 6-1 6-2.
Ninth seed Konta will play China's Zhang Shuai in the second round.
Konta needs a strong result in the tournament to pass American Madison Keys and Spain's Carla Suarez Navarro in the race to qualify for the WTA Finals later this month, which features the season's top-eight players.
Guernsey-born Watson, 24, was suffering from a stomach bug when trailing her opponent 3-6 1-2 in mid-30C temperatures before pulling out on Monday.
"It came on this morning. I woke up in full sweats. I went out there to see how I feel but it wasn't great," said Watson, who also named John-Laffnie de Jager as her new coach on Monday. Watson has been without a mentor since splitting with Diego Veronelli earlier this year.
"I was getting goosebumps on the court and that is the worst feeling, especially when it is hot," she added.
"It is frustrating, especially because I had a couple of matches under my belt and I was starting to feel good on court, so it is a shame this happened but there is nothing I can do."
Watson called for a medical time out after losing the opening set and a doctor was called onto court to take her blood pressure.
On Saturday, Watson won twice to qualify for the event in her first singles matches since requiring medical treatment following last month's US Open defeat by Richel Hogenkamp of the Netherlands.
After qualifying in China, Watson said tests were "all fine" amid fears she had suffered a relapse of glandular fever, which affected her in 2013.


Real Madrid boss Jose Mourinho is to be investigated by the Spanish Football Federation following last week's bad-tempered Supercopa loss to Barcelona.

The Portuguese coach appeared to gouge the eye of Barca assistant Tito Vilanova near the end of the match.
Madrid duo Marcelo and Mezut Ozil and Barca's David Villa were sent off in the game, which the Catalan side won 3-2 to go through 5-4 on aggregate.
All three players have been given suspensions by the federation.
All three red cards came at the end of the game; the first to Marcelo, whose tackle on Cesc Fabregas sparked a melee that saw the other two players dismissed and Mourinho clash with Vilanova.
Barcelona said on Monday that they would not be reporting Mourinho, but the Spanish Federation (RFEF) have intervened.
A statement on their official website read: "We will examine the images of the behaviour of Jose Mourinho and Franciso Vilanova that could be in violation of Article 98 and/or Article 100 of the disciplinary code of the RFEF."
The flashpoint was the latest in a string of unsavoury incidents between the two clubs since Mourinho took over as Madrid coach last summer.
The 48-year-old double Champions League winner was constantly outspoken about Barca last season, while his side were reduced to 10 men in all but one of their five meetings throughout the campaign.
He was also sent to the stands during the first leg of the two teams' Champions League semi-final, which Barca won before going on to lift the European Cup.


Everton boss Roberto Martinez will face fans' protests at the club's end-of-season awards dinner - unless he is sacked before Thursday's event.

His exit seems increasingly inevitable after a poor finish to the season.
The Toffees are currently 12th in the Premier League table but have won just one of their last 10 league games.
Supporters' groups are planning a protest at St George's Hall in Liverpool, where players and officials will gather on Thursday evening.
The only potential sticking point is that Martinez still has three years left on a lucrative contract, worth a reported £4m a year, that he signed in the summer of 2014.
Everton finish their season at home to relegated Norwich City on Sunday.
The agent of Dutch coach Frank de Boer, who has just stepped down at Ajax, has stated he would be interested in the Everton job if it became available.
Southampton's Ronald Koeman and Manchester City's Manuel Pellegrini have also been linked with the club.
Everton's board, led by new major shareholder Farhad Moshiri and chairman Bill Kenwright, have remained silent on Martinez's future.
It had been expected they would wait until the end of the season before conducting a review but anger among Everton fans means a decision on Martinez's future could now be made earlier.
Everton have produced three dismal away performances in succession in the Premier League, losing 4-0 at Liverpool, 3-1 at newly-crowned champions Leicester City and 3-0 at Sunderland on Wednesday.
They also lost the FA Cup semi-final to Manchester United.
In addition, Martinez has presided over the worst home record in Everton's history this season, losing eight of their 18 games so far.
They have won only five league matches at Goodison Park, with two of those coming against relegated Aston Villa and Newcastle United..
Martinez was appointed Everton manager in summer 2013, succeeding David Moyes after he left for Manchester United.
The 42-year-old Spaniard guided Everton to fifth place with 72 points in his first campaign - a club record in the Premier League era - but the Toffees managed just 47 the following season, finishing 11th.


Coventry City have signed experienced striker Darius Henderson on a contract until the end of the season.

Henderson, 34, was released by fellow League One side Scunthorpe on Monday.
"I've spoken about a plan B in the past and Darius definitely gives us that," Sky Blues manager Tony Mowbray told the club website.
"He's got a lot of experience and we're glad he is here to strengthen our ranks," added Mowbray, whose side travel to Port Vale on Sunday.
Find all the latest football transfers on our dedicated page.


Ireland should recover up to €13bn (£11bn) from Apple in back taxes, the European Commission has ruled.

After a three-year investigation, it has concluded that the US firm's Irish tax benefits are illegal.
The Commission said Ireland enabled the company to pay substantially less than other businesses, in effect paying a corporate tax rate of no more than 1%.
Ireland and Apple both said they disagreed with the record penalty and would appeal against it.
Apple reaction: Live updates
Apple tax ruling 'a serious blow'
Rory Cellan-Jones: EU takes on Apple, Ireland and the US
"Member states cannot give tax benefits to selected companies - this is illegal under EU state aid rules," said Commissioner Margrethe Vestager.
"The Commission's investigation concluded that Ireland granted illegal tax benefits to Apple, which enabled it to pay substantially less tax than other businesses over many years," she added.
The standard rate of Irish corporate tax is 12.5%. The Commissions's investigation concluded that Apple had effectively paid 1% tax on its European profits in 2003 and about 0.005% in 2014.
Ms Vestager said that the tax agreement reached between Ireland and Apple meant that the company's taxable profits "did not correspond to economic reality".
Apple said the decision would be harmful for jobs.
"The European Commission has launched an effort to rewrite Apple's history in Europe, ignore Ireland's tax laws and upend the international tax system in the process," the company said in a statement.
"The Commission's case is not about how much Apple pays in taxes, it's about which government collects the money.  It will have a profound and harmful effect on investment and job creation in Europe.
"Apple follows the law and pays all of the taxes we owe wherever we operate. We will appeal and we are confident the decision will be overturned."
The Irish government held a similar view.
"I disagree profoundly with the Commission," said Ireland's finance minister, Michael Noonan, in a statement.
"The decision leaves me with no choice but to seek cabinet approval to appeal. This is necessary to defend the integrity of our tax system; to provide tax certainty to business; and to challenge the encroachment of EU state aid rules into the sovereign member state competence of taxation."
The record tax bill should not be a problem for Apple, which made a net profit of $53bn in the 2015 financial year.
"Apple has been enjoying a river of free cash flow and while the ruling may not been too much short-term, investors will have to assess whether a higher tax bill will have any impact on profits after tax," said Neil Wilson, market analyst at ETX Capital.
The US Treasury, which said last week that the European Commission was in danger of becoming a "supranational tax authority", said the latest ruling could "undermine foreign investment, the business climate in Europe, and the important spirit of economic partnership between the US and the EU".
"We will continue to monitor these cases as they progress, and we will continue to work with the Commission toward our shared objective of preventing the erosion of our corporate tax bases," a US Treasury spokesman said.
Apple is not the only company that has been targeted for securing favourable tax deals in the European Union.
Last year, the commission told the Netherlands to recover as much as €30m (£25.6m) from Starbucks, while Luxembourg was ordered to claw back a similar amount from Fiat.
€13bn
demanded in back taxes. Equal to:
ALL of Ireland's  healthcare budget
66% of its social welfare bill
15 million iPhones
27% of Apple's 2015 profit
The current focus is on the size of the bill, but there are even larger issues at stake, including one fundamental question - who really runs the world, governments or giant corporations?
At present, it is difficult to tell.  Individual governments appear impotent in their attempts to apply their tax laws to multinationals like Apple. They have systems designed to deal with the movement and sale of physical goods, systems that are useless when companies derive their profits from the sale of services and the exploitation of intellectual property.
In Apple's case, 90% of its foreign profits are legally channelled to Ireland, and then to subsidiaries which have no tax residence. At the same time, countries can scarcely afford not to co-operate when Apple comes calling; it has a stock market value of $600bn, and the attraction of the jobs it can create and the extra inward investment its favours can bring are too much for most politicians to resist.
There is an echo here of the tycoons of the early 20th Century who bestrode America. Andrew Carnegie, Cornelius Vanderbilt and John Rockefeller were judged so powerful that they were almost above the law, something that successive US administrations sought to curb.
The European Commission's attempt to bring Apple to heel is on the surface about tax, but in the end about the power of the multinational and the power of the state. There is more to come; Margrethe Vestager, the Danish commissioner who is leading the charge against Apple, is warming up to take on Google.
Europe versus the giants of corporate America will be a battle royale, and one that will run and run.


A Kenyan athletics coach has been sent home from Rio after allegedly posing as an athlete and giving a urine sample.

Kenya said sprint coach John Anzrah "presented himself as an athlete" and "even signed the documents" for the doping test.
"We cannot tolerate such behaviour," said Kip Keino, chairman of the National Olympic Committee of Kenya.
Anzrah is the second Kenyan official to be sent home over doping issues after track and field manager Michael Rotich.
Rotich was dismissed following allegations that he was prepared to warn coaches about drugs tests in return for £10,000.
Keino said Kenya's Olympic body had not facilitated Anzrah's travel to Brazil, adding: "We don't even know how he came here."
It was not clear which athlete Anzrah was pretending to be.
However, a senior Athletics Kenya source said he had spoken to the athlete, who claims Anzrah used his accreditation purely to obtain free meals from the athletes' village.
"When the anti-doping officials met him, they assumed he was the athlete and that he was lined up for testing," added the source.
"The coach, for fear of being exposed or discovered, did not explain to the anti-doping guy that he is actually not the athlete. Hence he played along and went for the test."
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Wales captain Ashley Williams is not concerned about Gareth Bale missing a training camp before Euro 2016.

Bale's Real Madrid side face Atletico Madrid in the final of the Champions League on 28 May when Wales will be preparing in Portugal.
Chris Coleman's team play their opening European championship game against Slovakia on 11 June.
"From a selfish point of view it would be nice to have him there, but we're all happy for him," said Williams.
"I think for us it doesn't really matter because hopefully they win and he's come in on a high.
"He'll still be sharp and match fit. It would have been nice to have him with us, that's a good reason to miss the training camp."
Bale's deflected shot saw Real beat Manchester City 1-0 in Wednesday's second leg of their Champions Cup semi-final.
The forward scored in Real's 2014 final win against Atletico to clinch the club's 10th European Cup.
The two arch rivals will now meet again in this season's final on 28 May.
Wales have qualified for the finals of a major championship for the first time since the 1958 World Cup, with Bale scoring seven of their 11 goals in the qualifying campaign.
And with the championship so close, Williams admits he will have his heart in his mouth when he watches Bale in the final.
"To be honest I've been like that whenever I've watched him recently," he admitted.
"As soon as we qualified everyone had in the back of their mind they didn't want to miss it with injury and there was still a lot of football to be played.
"He has to go out do his best and try and win one of the biggest games in world football.
"I'm sure he'll look after himself."


Jagmohan Dalmiya, the president of the Indian cricket board, is in intensive care in a Kolkata hospital after suffering a heart attack.

Dalmiya, 75, was admitted to the city's BM Birla Heart Research Institute on Thursday with chest pains.
The hospital said that a blood clot had been "aspirated out to establish good flow in coronary arteries".
He was elected president for a second time in March and is a former president of the International Cricket Council.
There has been much speculation in national media about Dalmiya's health for several months, although the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has been reluctant to openly comment on this.
Dalmiya, who was previously president of the BCCI from 2001-04, returned to the role following the departure of N Srinivasan, who was forced to step down for owning an Indian Premier League team.


Donald Trump winning the US presidency is considered one of the top 10 risks facing the world, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit.

The research firm warns he could disrupt the global economy and heighten political and security risks in the US.
However, it does not expect Mr Trump to defeat Hillary Clinton who it sees as "his most likely Democratic contender".
He is rated as riskier than Britain leaving the European Union or an armed clash in the South China Sea.
China encountering a "hard landing" or sharp economic slowdown and Russia's interventions in Ukraine and Syria preceding a new "cold war" are among the events seen as more dangerous.
"Thus far Mr Trump has given very few details of his policies - and these tend to be prone to constant revision," the EIU said in its global risk assessment, which looks at impact and probability.
The EIU ranking uses a scale of one to 25, with Mr Trump garnering a rating of 12, the same level of risk as "the rising threat of jihadi terrorism destabilising the global economy".
"He has been exceptionally hostile towards free trade, including notably Nafta, and has repeatedly labelled China as a 'currency manipulator'," the EIU said.
It warned his strong language directed towards Mexico and China in particular "could escalate rapidly into a trade war".
Mr Trump has called for a "big big wall" to be built on the US-Mexican border, paid for by Mexico, to keep illegal immigrants and drug dealers out of the United States.
Why is Donald Trump considered only slightly less of a threat to global security than a new Cold War? Perhaps it is because unlike traditional presidential front-runners the candidate has little or no policy substance to back up his shoot-from-the-hip-style pronouncements.
Want details on how the New Yorker would restructure US trade relations with China? Or how he would implement his proposed Muslim immigration ban? Good luck finding out.
Mr Trump has been promising to reveal his foreign policy team since mid-February, but the deadline keeps getting extended.
A well-developed foreign policy campaign structure would provide not only substance behind Mr Trump's rhetoric, it would also give foreign leaders connections for their questions.
So far, however, it seems international affairs and national security experts in the US are more focused on stopping Mr Trump than trying to help him. Until that changes, expect the global alarm bells to continue to sound.
On the campaign trail, Mr Trump has advocated killing the families of terrorists and invading Syria to eradicate the so-called Islamic State group and appropriate its oil.
"His militaristic tendencies towards the Middle East and ban on all Muslim travel to the US would be a potent recruitment tool for jihadi groups, increasing their threat both within the region and beyond," the EIU added.
Critics of Mr Trump have raised similar concerns.
However, the businessman is moving closer to clinching the Republican presidential nominee ticket after winning most of the popular vote in primary elections.
Mr Trump, who has no prior political experience, has said his supporters would "riot" if he was denied the nomination.
In the event he does win the nomination and presidency, the EIU forecasts that domestic and foreign policymaking will be undermined.
"Innate hostility within the Republican hierarchy towards Mr Trump, combined with the inevitable virulent Democratic opposition, will see many of his more radical policies blocked in Congress," it said.


The trial of Irish man Ibrahim Halawa has been adjourned for the 18th time.

Mr Halawa, who is now 21, was 17 when he was arrested during a siege at the Al-Fath mosque in Cairo in 2013.
On Tuesday the Deputy Leader of Sinn Féin, Mary Lou McDonald told the Dáil (Irish parliament) she understood his trial date has been put back yet again.
Earlier in January the Egyptian president told a delegation of Irish politicians that he will offer a pardon Mr Halawa once his trial is over.
The Egyptian parliament has previously objected to calls from the Irish parliament to release the Dublin man, saying the request would interfere in the affairs of the Egyptian judiciary.
In a statement the charity Amnesty International said it remains "gravely concerned for his physical and mental wellbeing. "
"Today, following the 18th postponement, there is no sign that this unfair mass trial will conclude soon".
He has been accused, along with more than 400 others, of inciting violence, riot and sabotage.
However, Mr Halawa's family said they were on holiday at the time he was arrested and that he sought refuge in the mosque to escape the violence outside.
His trial has been rescheduled for February 14.
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