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Against a backdrop of sleet, snow, and a swirling wind off the waters of the Humber, alongside a determined home side pushing hard for promotion, this presented all the makings of a challenging night's task for the visitors.

"We might have added to our tally but Hull are a strong team and it was a tough tie; I am very pleased with the display," he said. "This club is very special to me so it was nice to get a good welcome from the fans of fans. The attitude of the lads was superb."

Liam Rosenior has this city dear to him, given part of his relatives hail from Hull and his successful period in management of the Tigers. His positive association continued with a commanding display from his squad, who in the end sauntered into the fifth round of the famous old competition.

Clinical Edge Secures Comprehensive Victory

Three days after letting slip a two-goal lead in the league, there was a hint of fragility about Chelsea going into this intriguing cup clash. The capacity Hull crowd clearly felt it too, but Rosenior's men handled the challenge perfectly.

Rosenior rang the changes, making seven of them to his starting lineup. The tie could and perhaps ought to have been decided long before it actually was, with two the Brazilian winger and the forward guilty of spurning glorious opportunities to put Chelsea in front in the opening period.

But, fortunately for the away team, Pedro Neto was in a much more clinical frame of mind. He broke the scoring with a marvellous distance strike, which proved to be the catalyst for his team to assume command of the match. By the final whistle, they had four, with Neto netting a trio of them for a brilliant three-goal haul.

The Forward's Response and Influence

Hull displayed great spirit all game, but the clearer chances always came to the visitors. The winger ought to have opened the deadlock when he went past goalkeeper Dillon Phillips before inexplicably shooting over. Delap then had a comparable nightmare incident in front of goal against his former club.

He deflected a the goalkeeper's kick which came back from the crossbar, and Delap began to celebrate believing the ball had crossed the line. It hadn’t, 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 miss, but he was immensely influential from there on out, registering three assists. The opening was for the opening goal as his pass teed up his teammate to score from range. Shortly after the second half began, it was two as Neto's corner went directly in under Phillips's legs.

Tie Put Beyond Doubt and Attention Turns

Seven minutes after the second goal, the tie was put beyond doubt as a dazzling dribble from Delap teed up his teammate to tap into an empty net. Neto then completed his treble as Delap again delivered the decisive ball for the attacker 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 focus must now switch back to securing a promotion to the Premier League under Sergej Jakirovic, who left out a number of first-choice individuals with that goal in mind.

"I think we earned at least one goal but if we play like this we will be in a strong situation in the league," he said. "Never surrender, maybe in the next games this can be a positive lesson of how we should play."

Hull showed great endeavour to the end, and they nearly claimed a consolation when Lewis Koumas hit a post in stoppage time. But this was the Blues' evening, and another encouraging step forward for their recently-appointed head coach at a stadium he knows intimately.

FA Cup Omens Are Promising

That resulted in an ultimately routine evening’s work, and the cup competition signs are positive from here for Chelsea. They have faced Hull on three previous times in this competition in the last decade and on each occasion, they have progressed to make the final. Much remains to be work in that respect, but this was another huge positive for Rosenior.