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Amid sleet, snow, and a swirling breeze from the waters of the Humber, combined with a resolute Hull City side fighting for a top-flight place, this had all the makings of a challenging evening’s work for the visitors.

"We might have scored more but Hull are a good team and it was a tough tie; I’m delighted with the display," he said. "This club is very special to me so it was great to get a good reception from the fans of fans. The attitude of the lads was superb."

The Rosenior holds this place dear to him, considering part of his relatives hail from Hull and his enjoyable period in management of the Tigers. This positive connection continued with a magnificent display from his squad, who in the end sauntered into the next round of the famous old competition.

Deadly Finishing Secures Comfortable Victory

Seventy-two hours removed from surrendering a 2-0 advantage in the league, there was a hint of vulnerability about them going into this intriguing cup clash. The packed Hull support evidently felt it too, but the London side navigated the task with ease.

The manager made alterations, making seven of them to his starting lineup. The match might and maybe should have been settled long before it eventually was, with both Estêvão Willian and Liam Delap guilty of missing excellent opportunities to put their side in front in the opening period.

However, luckily for the away team, their Portuguese attacker was in a far more clinical frame of mind. He opened the scoring with a marvellous distance strike, which acted as the catalyst for Chelsea to take control of the match. By full time, they had four, with Neto scoring three of them for a brilliant hat-trick.

Delap's Redemption and Influence

The home side showed plenty of spirit throughout, but the better chances always came Chelsea’s way. Estêvão ought to have broken the deadlock when he rounded goalkeeper Dillon Phillips before unbelievably shooting over. The striker then had a comparable nightmare moment in front of goal against his former club.

He blocked a the goalkeeper's clearance which bounced back from the crossbar, and Delap started to celebrate believing the ball had crossed the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he understood, Hull's backline had reacted to clear the danger.

The player had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was hugely influential from there on out, registering three key passes. The first was for the opening goal as his through ball teed up his teammate to finish from outside the box. Six minutes after the second half began, it was 2-0 as the forward's corner went straight in under the keeper's legs.

Contest Put Beyond Doubt and Attention Shifts

Soon after the second goal, the tie was effectively ended as a magnificent dribble from the forward laid on his teammate to slide into an unguarded goal. The hat-trick hero then completed his hat-trick as Delap once again played the crucial ball for the striker to calmly convert by a helpless goalkeeper.

By that stage, the work Hull had put in in the opening half-hour had long since erased. Their priority must now return to securing a promotion to the top division under Sergej Jakirovic, who rested several first-choice individuals with that aim in mind.

"In my opinion we deserved at least one goal but if we play like this we will be in a very good situation in the league," he said. "Keep fighting, maybe in the next games this can be a positive example of how we must play."

There was great endeavour to the end, and they almost claimed a consolation when a substitute hit a the upright in stoppage time. But this was Chelsea’s evening, and another encouraging step forward for their new head coach at a place he is familiar with very well.

Cup History Are Good

That resulted in an in the end routine evening’s work, and the FA Cup-shaped signs are good from here for Chelsea. They have faced Hull on three other occasions in this tournament in the last decade and every single time, they have gone on to reach the showpiece. Much remains to be done in that respect, but this was another significant tick for Rosenior.