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Against a backdrop of sleet, flurries, and a biting breeze from the waters of the Humber Estuary, combined with a resolute home side fighting for a top-flight place, this presented all the ingredients of a difficult evening’s task for Chelsea.

"We might have scored more but the opposition are a good team and it was a difficult fixture; I’m very pleased with the display," he said. "This club means a lot to me so it was nice to get a good reception from the fans of supporters. The application of the players was superb."

The Rosenior holds this place dear to him, considering part of his relatives are from Hull and his enjoyable spell in management of the Championship club. This happy association continued with a magnificent display from his team, who in the end sauntered into the next round of the famous old competition.

Deadly Finishing Secures Comprehensive Win

Seventy-two hours removed from surrendering a 2-0 advantage in the Premier League, there was a sniff of vulnerability about Chelsea going into this intriguing cup clash. The packed home support clearly sensed it too, but Rosenior's men navigated the challenge perfectly.

The manager rang the changes, making seven of them to his XI. The match could and perhaps ought to have been decided long before it eventually was, with both the Brazilian winger and the forward guilty of spurning glorious opportunities to put Chelsea in front in the first half.

But, luckily for the visitors, Pedro Neto was in a much more ruthless mood. He opened the scoring with a marvellous long-range effort, which acted as the catalyst for his team to assume command of proceedings. By full time, they had 4 goals, with Neto netting three of them for a superb three-goal haul.

The Forward's Redemption and Influence

Hull showed great spirit throughout, but the clearer opportunities always fell Chelsea’s way. The winger ought to have opened the deadlock when he rounded keeper Dillon Phillips before unbelievably shooting over. The striker then had a comparable nightmare incident in front of goal against his old team.

He deflected a the goalkeeper's clearance which bounced back from the bar, and he began to run away believing the ball had gone over the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he realised, Hull's defenders had reacted to avert the danger.

Delap had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was hugely influential from that point onward, registering three assists. The first was for the opening goal as his through ball teed up his teammate to score from range. Six minutes after the second half began, it was 2-0 as the forward's corner went directly in under the keeper's legs.

Tie Put Beyond Doubt and Focus Shifts

Seven minutes after Neto’s second, the match was effectively ended as a dazzling run from Delap laid on his teammate to tap into an empty net. The hat-trick hero then finished his treble as Delap again played the decisive pass for the striker to calmly slot by a stranded Phillips.

At that point, the effort Hull had done in the opening half-hour had been forgotten. Their priority must now switch back to securing a return 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 perform like this we will be in a strong situation in the Championship," the Hull manager commented. "Keep fighting, maybe in the next games this can be a good example of how we should play."

Hull showed great effort to the end, and they nearly claimed a late goal when Lewis Koumas struck a the upright in stoppage time. But this was Chelsea’s evening, and another positive stride for their recently-appointed head coach at a place he is familiar with intimately.

FA Cup History Look Good

That made for an in the end routine night's performance, and the FA Cup-shaped omens are positive from here for the winners. They have played Hull on three previous times in this tournament in the last decade and on each occasion, they have gone on to reach the final. There is remains to be done in that respect, but this was another huge positive for the Chelsea boss.