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Against a backdrop of freezing rain, flurries, and a biting breeze off the waters of the Humber, combined with a determined home side fighting for promotion, this presented all the ingredients of a challenging evening’s task for the visitors.

"We might have scored more but the opposition are a strong team and it was a difficult tie; I am delighted with the performance," the manager stated. "This club is very special to me so it was nice to get a positive welcome from the fans of fans. The application of the lads was excellent."

The Chelsea manager holds this place dear to him, considering some of his relatives are from Hull and his enjoyable spell in charge of the Tigers. This positive connection was extended with a commanding display from his squad, who ultimately strolled into the next round of the FA Cup.

Deadly Edge Seals Comprehensive Win

Seventy-two hours removed from surrendering a 2-0 lead in the league, there was a hint of vulnerability about them going into this potentially tricky cup clash. The capacity home crowd clearly felt it too, but the London side navigated the challenge with ease.

Rosenior rang the changes, enacting multiple of them to his starting lineup. The match might and perhaps should have been settled long before it actually was, with two the Brazilian winger and Liam Delap guilty of spurning glorious opportunities to put Chelsea ahead in the first half.

But, fortunately for the away team, their Portuguese attacker was in a much more ruthless mood. He broke the scoring with a marvellous long-range strike, which proved to be the spark for Chelsea to assume control of the match. By the final whistle, they had 4 goals, with Neto scoring three of them for a brilliant three-goal haul.

Delap's Response and Influence

The home side displayed plenty of fight all game, but the clearer opportunities always fell Chelsea’s way. Estêvão should have opened the deadlock when he went past goalkeeper the Hull stopper before unbelievably shooting over. The striker then had a similar nightmare incident in front of goal against his former club.

He deflected a the goalkeeper's clearance which bounced off the bar, and he began to run away thinking the ball had crossed the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he understood, Hull's backline had reacted to clear the threat.

Delap had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was hugely influential from that point onward, registering three key passes. The opening was for the opening goal as his through ball teed up his teammate to finish from range. Six minutes after the restart, it was two as Neto's corner went directly in under the keeper's legs.

Contest Put Beyond Doubt and Focus Shifts

Soon after Neto’s second, the tie was effectively ended as a magnificent run from Delap laid on Estêvão to slide into an empty net. The hat-trick hero then finished his hat-trick as the provider again played the crucial ball for the striker to calmly slot past a helpless Phillips.

At that point, the effort Hull had put in in the opening half-hour had been erased. Their priority must now switch back to securing a return to the top division under their manager, who left out several first-choice players with that aim in mind.

"I think we deserved at least one goal but if we play like this we will be in a strong position in the Championship," the Hull manager commented. "Keep fighting, maybe in the next games this can be a good lesson of how we must play."

There was great endeavour to the final whistle, and they almost got a late goal when Lewis Koumas hit a post in injury time. But this was the Blues' evening, and another encouraging step forward for their new manager at a place he knows very well.

Cup History Are Promising

That resulted in an ultimately routine evening’s work, and the cup competition omens are positive from here for the winners. They have played Hull on three previous occasions in this competition in the last decade and on each occasion, they have gone on to reach the final. There is remains to be done in that respect, but this was another huge positive for Rosenior.