Kilmarnock boss Steve Clarke furious after receiving sectarian abuse from Rangers fans

Kilmarnock manager Steve Clarke was left furious last night after his side were thumped 5-0 by Steven Gerrard's Rangers in the Scottish Cup. The former Scotland international accused Gers fans of living in the dark ages, after a selection of the Ibrox crowd had targeted him with sectarian abuse throughout the encounter.

A forgettable evening for Kilmarnock, which saw the Europa League hopefuls dumped out of the competition thanks to a scintillating performance from Rangers front man Alfredo Morelos - who was returning from suspension after seeing red against Aberdeen at the start of the month - was made worse after the visitors saw their goalkeeper, Daniel Bachmann, sent off in the 25th minute.

The Austrian shot stopper was adjudged to have purposely elbowed midfielder Glen Kamara just before Rangers took a corner, with manager Clarke saying that the referee's decision to dismiss his man between the sticks was 'a joke'.

“If the penalty had been given in the first two minutes it would have been different. The red card is a joke. If that’s the standards we might as well go home. Why speak? It’s every week," said the 55-year-old.

“You’ll probably write about Morelos’s four goals but the officials decided the game. It’s embarrassing. The goalie just lifted his arms. Every goalie does it every week. It’s embarrassing. How can I talk about football tonight?”

An extremely emotional Clarke saved his fiercest condemnation for the Rangers fans who had directed abuse at him though, saying that the Gers support were "living in the dark ages".

“It’s lovely being back in the west of Scotland, really nice,” said Clarke. “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’.

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

“They are not allowed to call my assistant [Alex Dyer] a black b*stard, but they can call me a Fenian b*stard, what are we doing in Scotland?

“I wake up every morning and thank Chelsea for coming and taking me away from the west of Scotland because my children don’t understand this. Thankfully when I go down there my children, my grandchildren don’t have to worry about this. So, fantastic to be back in Scotland.”

Rangers boss Steven Gerrard admitted after the game that his centre-half, Joe Worrall, did place an arm on Kilmarnock front man Eamonn Brophy in the penalty area when the tie was just two minutes old, but that he felt the visitors' penalty appeals were 'debatable'.

Alfredo Morelos put the hosts in front within seven minutes at Ibrox, before doubling their advantage in first-half injury time. Three quick-fire goals in the space of six minutes from Andy Halliday and Morelos (2) then secured the win for Rangers in the closing stages, setting up an eye-catching tie with Aberdeen in the quarter-finals of the competition next month.

Steve Clarke will now look to put last night's events behind him as his side travel to ninth placed Livingston in the SPL this Saturday. Killie currently sit fourth in the division, but could leapfrog third placed Aberdeen with a win providing The Dons slip up against St. Johnstone in their fixture this weekend.