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Against a backdrop of freezing rain, snow, and a biting wind from the banks of the Humber, alongside a determined Hull City side pushing hard for promotion, this presented all the ingredients of a difficult night's work for the visitors.

"We might have added to our tally but the opposition are a good team and it was a difficult tie; I’m very pleased with the performance," he said. "Hull City is very special to me so it was great to get a positive reception from both sets of supporters. The attitude of the players was excellent."

Liam Rosenior holds this city close to his heart, considering part of his family are from Hull and his successful period in management of the Championship club. His happy connection was extended with a commanding performance from his squad, who ultimately strolled into the fifth round of the famous old competition.

Deadly Finishing Secures Comprehensive Win

Three days removed from surrendering a two-goal lead in the league, there was a hint of vulnerability about them going into this intriguing cup clash. The packed Hull support clearly sensed it too, but the London side navigated the task perfectly.

The manager made alterations, making multiple of them to his XI. The match might and perhaps should have been decided long before it eventually was, with both Estêvão Willian and the forward guilty of missing glorious chances to put Chelsea in front in the opening period.

But, fortunately for the away team, their Portuguese attacker was in a far more ruthless mood. He broke the deadlock with a marvellous long-range strike, which acted as the spark for Chelsea to assume control of proceedings. By the final whistle, they had four, with the forward scoring a trio of them for a brilliant hat-trick.

The Forward's Redemption and Impact

Hull displayed great spirit all game, but the clearer chances consistently came Chelsea’s way. The winger ought to have broken the scoring when he went past goalkeeper Dillon Phillips before unbelievably firing over. The striker then had a similar horror incident in front of goal against his old team.

He deflected a the goalkeeper's kick which bounced back from the bar, and Delap began to run away thinking the ball had gone over the line. It had not, and by the time he realised, Hull's backline had reacted to avert the threat.

The player had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was hugely influential from that point onward, registering three key passes. The first was for the opening goal as his pass teed up Neto to finish from range. Six minutes after the restart, it was 2-0 as the forward's set-piece went straight in under Phillips's legs.

Tie Sealed and Attention Turns

Soon after Neto’s second goal, the tie was put beyond doubt as a dazzling run from the forward teed up Estêvão to tap into an unguarded goal. Neto then completed his hat-trick as Delap once again played the crucial pass for the attacker to calmly convert by a helpless Phillips.

At that point, the work Hull had put in in the opening half-hour had been forgotten. Their focus must now return to securing a return to the top division under their manager, who rested a number of key players with that aim in mind.

"I think we deserved at least one goal but if we perform like this we will be in a very good position in the league," the Hull manager commented. "Never surrender, maybe in the next games this can be a good example of how we must play."

There was great effort to the end, and they nearly got a late goal when Lewis Koumas hit a post in injury time. But this was the Blues' night, and another encouraging stride for their recently-appointed manager at a place he knows very well.

FA Cup Omens Look Good

The result resulted in an ultimately straightforward night'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 progressed to make the final. Much remains to be done in that respect, but this was another huge positive for the Chelsea boss.