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Against a backdrop of sleet, flurries, and a biting wind off the waters of the Humber, alongside a determined Hull City side pushing hard for a top-flight place, this presented all the makings of a challenging night's work for the visitors.

"We could have scored more but Hull are a good team and it was a tough fixture; I’m very pleased with the performance," he said. "Hull City is very special to me so it was great to get a positive reception from the fans of fans. The attitude of the lads was superb."

The Rosenior has this place close to his heart, considering part of his family are from Hull and his successful period in charge of the Championship club. His happy association continued with a magnificent performance from his team, who in the end sauntered into the fifth round of the famous old competition.

Deadly Edge Seals Comfortable Victory

Seventy-two hours after surrendering a 2-0 lead in the league, there was a sniff of vulnerability about them going into this potentially tricky cup clash. The capacity home crowd evidently felt it too, but Rosenior's men handled the challenge with ease.

The manager rang the changes, making seven of them to his starting lineup. The match might and perhaps ought to have been decided earlier than it eventually was, with two the Brazilian winger and Liam Delap guilty of spurning excellent chances to put their side in front in the first half.

However, fortunately for the visitors, Pedro Neto was in a far more ruthless frame of mind. He broke the deadlock with a marvellous distance effort, which proved to be the catalyst for Chelsea to take control of the match. By the final whistle, they had four, with Neto netting a trio of them for a superb hat-trick.

Delap's Redemption and Influence

The home side showed plenty of spirit all game, but the clearer opportunities always came to the visitors. The winger should have broken the deadlock when he went past goalkeeper the Hull stopper before inexplicably shooting over. The striker then had a similar nightmare moment in front of goal against his old team.

He deflected a the goalkeeper's clearance which came back from the bar, and he began to celebrate thinking the ball had crossed the line. It had not, and by the time he understood, Hull's defenders had responded to clear the danger.

Delap had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was hugely influential from that point onward, registering 3 assists. The opening was for the first goal as his through ball set up Neto to score from outside the box. Shortly after the restart, it was two as Neto's set-piece went directly in through Phillips's legs.

Contest Put Beyond Doubt and Focus Shifts

Soon after the second goal, the match was put beyond doubt as a dazzling dribble from Delap laid on his teammate to slide into an empty net. The hat-trick hero then completed his hat-trick as Delap once again played the decisive pass for the attacker to coolly slot by a stranded Phillips.

By that stage, the effort Hull had done in the opening half-hour had been erased. Their focus must now return to achieving a return to the Premier League under Sergej Jakirovic, who rested a number of first-choice individuals with that goal in mind.

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

There was plenty of endeavour to the end, and they almost got a consolation when Lewis Koumas struck a the upright in injury time. But this was the Blues' night, and another positive stride for their new manager at a place he knows very well.

FA Cup Omens Are Promising

The result made for an in the end routine night's performance, and the FA Cup-shaped omens are good 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 reach the final. Much remains to be done in that respect, but this was another huge positive for the Chelsea boss.