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Against a backdrop of freezing rain, snow, and a biting breeze from the waters of the Humber Estuary, combined with a determined home side fighting for a top-flight place, this presented all the ingredients of a difficult night's task for Chelsea.

"We might have scored more but Hull are a strong team and it was a tough tie; I am very pleased with the performance," he said. "Hull City is very special to me so it was nice to get a good reception from both sets of supporters. The attitude of the players was superb."

Liam Rosenior holds this place close to his heart, considering some of his family are from Hull and his successful period in charge of the Championship club. His positive association was extended with a magnificent performance from his squad, who in the end sauntered into the fifth round of the famous old competition.

Deadly Finishing Secures Comfortable Win

Three days after surrendering a two-goal advantage in the league, there was a sniff of vulnerability about them going into this intriguing cup clash. The packed Hull support clearly felt it too, but Rosenior's men navigated the task perfectly.

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

However, fortunately for the away team, Pedro Neto was in a far more ruthless frame of mind. He opened the scoring with a marvellous distance effort, which acted as the catalyst for Chelsea to assume command of proceedings. By the final whistle, they had four, with the forward netting a trio of them for a brilliant hat-trick.

The Forward's Response and Influence

Hull showed plenty of fight all game, but the better chances consistently fell Chelsea’s way. The winger ought to have broken the deadlock when he rounded goalkeeper Dillon Phillips before inexplicably firing over. The striker then had a comparable nightmare incident in front of goal against his former club.

He deflected a the goalkeeper's clearance which bounced back from the bar, and Delap started to celebrate believing the ball had gone over the line. It had not, and by the time he realised, Hull's defenders had reacted to clear the danger.

Delap had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was hugely influential from there on out, registering 3 key passes. The opening was for the first goal as his through ball teed up his teammate to score from range. Six minutes after the restart, it was two as Neto's corner went straight in through Phillips's legs.

Tie Put Beyond Doubt and Attention Shifts

Seven minutes after the second, the tie was effectively ended as a magnificent dribble from Delap teed up his teammate to slide into an unguarded goal. The hat-trick hero then finished his hat-trick as the provider once again delivered the decisive ball for the striker to calmly slot past a helpless goalkeeper.

At that point, the work 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 Sergej Jakirovic, who left out several first-choice individuals 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 situation in the league," he said. "Keep fighting, maybe in the upcoming matches this can be a positive example of how we must play."

Hull showed great endeavour to the final whistle, and they nearly claimed a late goal when a substitute hit a the upright in stoppage time. But this was the Blues' evening, and another encouraging step forward for their new head coach at a stadium he is familiar with intimately.

FA Cup History Look Good

That made for an ultimately straightforward night's work, and the cup competition signs are positive from here for the winners. They have played Hull on three other occasions in this competition in the last decade and every single time, they have gone on to reach the showpiece. Much remains to be work in that regard, but this was another huge tick for Rosenior.