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Against a backdrop of sleet, snow, and a swirling wind from the banks of the Humber, combined with a resolute Hull City side fighting for a top-flight place, this presented all the makings of a difficult night's work for the visitors.

"We could have added to our tally but Hull are a strong team and it was a difficult fixture; I am very pleased with the display," he said. "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 players was excellent."

Liam Chelsea manager has this place close to his heart, considering part of his family hail from Hull and his successful spell in management of the Tigers. His positive connection was extended with a commanding display from his squad, who in the end strolled into the fifth round of the famous old competition.

Clinical Finishing Secures Comfortable Win

Three days after letting slip a 2-0 advantage in the Premier League, there was a hint of fragility about them going into this intriguing tie. The packed Hull support clearly sensed it too, but Rosenior's men navigated the task with ease.

The manager rang the changes, making seven of them to his starting lineup. The match could and maybe ought to have been decided earlier than it actually was, with both the Brazilian winger and the forward at fault for spurning excellent opportunities to put Chelsea ahead in the first half.

But, luckily for the visitors, Pedro Neto was in a much more ruthless mood. He broke the deadlock with a marvellous distance strike, which proved to be the catalyst for his team to assume control of the match. By the final whistle, they had four, with Neto scoring a trio of them for a brilliant hat-trick.

The Forward's Redemption and Influence

The home side displayed great spirit all game, but the better opportunities always fell Chelsea’s way. Estêvão should have opened the scoring when he went past goalkeeper Dillon Phillips before inexplicably firing over. The striker then had a comparable horror incident in front of goal against his old team.

He blocked a Phillips's clearance which bounced off the crossbar, and he began to run away thinking the ball had gone over the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he understood, Hull's backline had responded to avert the threat.

Delap had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was immensely instrumental from that point onward, providing three assists. The first was for the opening goal as his pass set up his teammate to score from range. Six minutes after the second half began, it was two as Neto's corner went directly in through the keeper's legs.

Contest Sealed and Attention Turns

Soon after Neto’s second goal, the match was put beyond doubt as a magnificent dribble from Delap laid on Estêvão to slide into an empty net. Neto then finished his treble as the provider once again delivered the decisive ball for the striker to calmly slot by a stranded Phillips.

By that stage, the work Hull had put in in the first thirty minutes had been forgotten. Their priority must now return to securing a promotion to the top division under Sergej Jakirovic, who rested a number of key players with that goal 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," he said. "Never surrender, maybe in the next matches this can be a good example of how we must play."

There was great effort to the final whistle, and they nearly got a consolation when a substitute hit a post in injury time. But this was the Blues' evening, and another encouraging step forward for their recently-appointed manager at a stadium he knows intimately.

Cup Omens Look Good

The result made for an in the end routine evening’s work, and the cup competition omens are good from here for Chelsea. They have faced Hull on three previous occasions in this competition in the last decade and every single time, they have gone on to reach the showpiece. There is remains to be work in that regard, but this was another huge tick for the Chelsea boss.