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Against a backdrop of sleet, flurries, and a swirling breeze off the banks of the Humber Estuary, combined with a determined home side fighting for a top-flight place, this had all the ingredients of a challenging night's work for the visitors.

"We could have added to our tally but Hull are a strong team and it was a tough tie; I am delighted with the performance," the manager stated. "Hull City is very special to me so it was nice to get a positive reception from both sets of supporters. The application of the lads was excellent."

The Rosenior has this city close to his heart, considering part of his relatives hail from Hull and his successful spell in management of the Championship club. His happy connection was extended with a magnificent performance from his team, who ultimately sauntered into the next round of the FA Cup.

Deadly Edge Secures Comfortable Win

Three days removed from letting slip a 2-0 lead in the league, there was a hint of vulnerability about them going into this potentially tricky cup clash. The capacity Hull crowd clearly felt it too, but the London side navigated the task with ease.

Rosenior rang the changes, enacting multiple of them to his XI. The match might and maybe should have been settled earlier than it actually was, with both Estêvão Willian and Liam Delap at fault for missing glorious opportunities to put Chelsea in front in the opening period.

But, luckily for the away team, Pedro Neto was in a much more clinical frame of mind. He opened the scoring with a spectacular long-range strike, which proved to be the spark for Chelsea to take command of proceedings. By the final whistle, they had 4 goals, with Neto netting a trio of them for a brilliant hat-trick.

Delap's Response and Influence

The home side showed plenty of fight all game, but the better chances consistently came to the visitors. The winger ought to have opened the scoring when he went past keeper Dillon Phillips before unbelievably shooting over. Delap then had a similar nightmare incident in front of goal against his old team.

He deflected a the goalkeeper's clearance which bounced back from the crossbar, and he started to celebrate believing the ball had crossed the line. It had not, and by the time he understood, Hull's defenders had reacted to avert the danger.

The player had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was immensely instrumental from there on out, providing 3 assists. The opening was for the first goal as his through ball set up his teammate to score from range. Six minutes after the restart, it was 2-0 as Neto's set-piece went straight in through the keeper's legs.

Contest Put Beyond Doubt and Attention Turns

Soon after the second goal, the match was put beyond doubt as a dazzling run from the forward laid on Estêvão to slide into an unguarded goal. The hat-trick hero then finished his hat-trick as the provider again played the decisive pass for the attacker to calmly convert by a stranded Phillips.

By that stage, the work Hull had put in in the first thirty minutes had long since forgotten. Their focus must now return to securing a return to the Premier League under their manager, who left out a number of key individuals with that goal in mind.

"I think we earned at least one goal but if we perform like this we will be in a very good position in the Championship," he said. "Never surrender, maybe in the next matches this can be a positive lesson of how we should play."

There was plenty of effort to the final whistle, and they nearly claimed a late goal when Lewis Koumas hit a post in injury time. But this was the Blues' night, and another encouraging step forward for their recently-appointed head coach at a stadium he knows very well.

Cup History Look Promising

That resulted in an ultimately routine evening’s work, and the FA Cup-shaped signs are positive from here for Chelsea. They have faced Hull on three other times in this competition in the past ten years and every single time, they have gone on to make the final. There is still work in that regard, but this was another significant tick for Rosenior.