Kilmarnock striker Kris Boyd and manager Steve Clarke have said that the sectarian abuse they suffered is a societal problem and called on people to work together to eradicate it.

Boyd said he felt that dealing with abuse was "part and parcel" of having played for Rangers or Celtic, while Clarke said that he was targeted simply because he was raised Catholic in the west of Scotland.

In football matches over the last week, Boyd was struck by a coin thrown from the crowd and called a "fat orange b******" during a game against Celtic, while Clarke was called a "F****n b******" by supporters at Ibrox on Wednesday.

Boyd, who played for Rangers, said that he just accepted the abuse as being linked to who had played for.

"I don't know any different," he said. "The manager went away, lived another life and then came back.

"I haven't. I had a two-year spell away from the country, but I was back here every month.

"It's part and parcel of being an Old Firm player.

"What I will say is that I can't sit here and have any problems with Rangers and Celtic, because that's why you get paid so much.

"I'm not saying it's right but there is a price to pay for playing with the Old Firm.

"I'm used to it but does it make it right? No."

The striker, who made it clear he did not believe that introducing strict liability rules would make a difference, said that now was the time to act to tackle the problem.

"The shouts are water off a duck's back to me," he said. "My issue is when you get objects thrown and when you get objects thrown at people there's an issue.

"We will wait until something serious happens and then act on it.

"We have an opportunity right now to act on it so why do we not do it?"

Clarke said that he was appreciative of the messages of support he had received in the last few days, and of the statements from Rangers and the Scottish FA and SPFL condemning the abuse he received.

The manager, who had said on Wednesday that he was grateful Chelsea signed him from St Mirren in the 1980s so that his children weren't brought up in the west of Scotland, reiterated his belief that Scottish society has a problem that it isn't just down to football to fix.

"I think things can be done but whether they will be done is far more difficult to address," he said.

"I'm not a politician or a policeman. I'm a football manager and have worked in football all my life.

"It's not nice. I think there's been advances in the issue of racism. But in recent times there's still occasions it comes out."

Clarke drew on his own playing career to give evidence of how deep-rooted he thinks sectarianism is but also to illustrate how progress had been made.

"In society here in Scotland there have been advances," he said. "When I was a player going back to 1984/85/86 Rangers did not sign Catholic players.

"When I was at St Mirren there was an enquiry from Graeme Souness about me going to Rangers and I remember at the time the manager Alex Smith saying 'no you can't do that son'.

"It was not because of any racism or sectarianism from Alex he was just protecting me as a person.

"Not long after that Maurice Johnston became the first headline Catholic to sign for Rangers.

"But obviously there have been massive advances."

Though Boyd had directly linked his own experience of abuse to his time as a Rangers player, Clarke drew a distinction, saying he had been targeted solely because of his religious upbringing.

"This is definitely a societal issue," he said. "It's in football because football is a popular sport.

"To go back to Old Firm players and people who have been connected to the Old Firm, maybe they understand it a bit more.

"Neil Lennon touched on the subject earlier in the season and it maybe disappeared quite quickly. I have no connection with Celtic or Rangers, the only part I can see is that I was brought up as a Catholic in the west coast of Scotland.

"It shouldn't be an issue in the west coast of Scotland. I'm definitely not a F****n."