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Against a backdrop of sleet, snow, and a biting wind off the banks of the Humber, alongside a resolute home side pushing hard for promotion, this presented all the ingredients of a difficult night's task for the visitors.

"We might have added to our tally but Hull are a good team and it was a difficult fixture; I’m delighted with the performance," he said. "This club is very special to me so it was great to get a positive welcome from the fans of fans. The application of the lads was excellent."

The Chelsea manager has this city dear to him, considering some of his relatives hail from Hull and his successful period in charge of the Tigers. His positive connection was extended with a magnificent display from his squad, who in the end strolled into the fifth round of the FA Cup.

Clinical Finishing Seals Comfortable Win

Seventy-two hours removed from letting slip a two-goal advantage in the league, there was a hint of fragility about Chelsea going into this potentially tricky tie. The capacity Hull crowd clearly felt it too, but the London side navigated the task perfectly.

Rosenior rang the changes, enacting multiple of them to his XI. The match could and perhaps should have been settled earlier than it eventually was, with both Estêvão Willian and Liam Delap at fault for spurning glorious opportunities to put their side ahead in the first half.

However, luckily for the away team, their Portuguese attacker was in a far more clinical frame of mind. He opened the scoring with a spectacular distance effort, which acted as the spark for his team to take command of the match. By the final whistle, they had 4 goals, with the forward scoring a trio of them for a superb three-goal haul.

Delap's Redemption and Impact

Hull displayed plenty of spirit all game, but the better opportunities consistently fell Chelsea’s way. The winger should have broken the deadlock when he rounded keeper Dillon Phillips before inexplicably firing over. The striker then had a comparable nightmare moment in front of goal against his former club.

He blocked a the goalkeeper's kick which bounced back from the crossbar, and he began to celebrate believing the ball had crossed the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he realised, Hull's defenders had responded to avert the danger.

The player had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was immensely influential from there on out, providing 3 key passes. The opening was for the opening goal as his through ball set up Neto to score from range. Shortly after the second half began, it was two as Neto's corner went directly in through Phillips's legs.

Tie Sealed and Attention Turns

Soon after the second goal, the match was put beyond doubt as a dazzling dribble from the forward teed up Estêvão to slide into an unguarded goal. The hat-trick hero then finished his hat-trick as Delap once again played the decisive ball for the striker to coolly slot past a stranded Phillips.

By that stage, 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 Premier League under Sergej Jakirovic, who left out a number of first-choice individuals with that aim in mind.

"In my opinion we deserved at least one goal but if we perform like this we will be in a strong situation in the Championship," the Hull manager commented. "Keep fighting, maybe in the upcoming games this can be a positive example of how we must play."

Hull showed great effort to the end, and they nearly claimed a consolation when a substitute hit a post in injury time. But this was Chelsea’s night, and another encouraging stride for their recently-appointed head coach at a place he is familiar with intimately.

Cup Omens Look Promising

The result made for an ultimately routine night's performance, and the cup competition signs are positive from here for the winners. They have faced Hull on three other times in this tournament in the past ten years and every single time, they have progressed to make the final. There is remains to be work in that regard, but this was another significant positive for the Chelsea boss.