Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard has slammed the abuse suffered by former Reds coach Steve Clarke when the ex-Anfield colleagues went head to head in the Scottish Cup.

Gerrard's Rangers hammered Clarke's Kilmarnock 5-0 at Ibrox in their fifth round replay on Wednesday night.

However, the post-match discussion was dominated by Clarke saying he faced "sectarian" abuse from the "dark ages" during the match.

Rangers released a statement afterwards condemning the abuse.

And Gerrard said on Thursday morning: "I wasn't aware of how Steve was feeling after the match when we met up for a beer.

"The club has issued a statement and we don't support any kind of unacceptable behaviour from the terraces.

"We want to try and stamp it out of the game in general so we’re always talking about the football."

Video Loading

Clarke, fuming at the red card shown to Kilmarnock goalkeeper Daniel Bachmann early in the match, was greeted with chants of "sad Fenian b*****" during the match.

And he said afterwards: "It’s lovely being back in the west of Scotland, really nice.

"When I was approached by Rangers about taking over the job here I was assured that ‘we don’t have that in the west of Scotland any more. It’s gone’.

Keep up to date with all the latest build-up to Liverpool at Manchester United here

“They can call me a b***** or a w*****. No problem, thanks, guys. But to call me a Fenian b******, come on. Where are we living in? The dark ages?"

Clarke was involved in war of words with Gerrard ahead of the initial cup tie between the clubs, which centred on the inference Rangers forward Jermain Defoe had dived to win a penalty the previous week against St Mirren.