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Amid freezing rain, snow, and a biting breeze off the waters of the Humber Estuary, combined with a resolute home side pushing hard for promotion, this presented all the ingredients of a challenging evening’s task for Chelsea.

"We might have scored more but Hull are a strong team and it was a tough tie; I am delighted with the display," he said. "Hull City is very special to me so it was nice to get a positive reception from the fans of fans. The attitude of the lads was excellent."

The Rosenior has this city dear to him, given some of his family are from Hull and his successful spell in charge of the Championship club. His happy connection was extended with a commanding performance from his team, who in the end sauntered into the fifth round of the FA Cup.

Clinical Edge Seals Comprehensive Win

Seventy-two hours after surrendering a two-goal lead in the Premier League, there was a hint of vulnerability about them going into this potentially tricky tie. The capacity home crowd evidently felt it too, but Rosenior's men handled the task perfectly.

The manager made alterations, enacting seven of them to his XI. The tie could and perhaps ought to have been settled earlier than it actually was, with two Estêvão Willian and the forward at fault for missing excellent opportunities to put Chelsea in front in the first half.

But, luckily for the visitors, Pedro Neto was in a far more ruthless frame of mind. He broke the scoring with a spectacular long-range effort, which acted as the spark for his team to take control of proceedings. By full time, they had 4 goals, with the forward netting a trio of them for a brilliant three-goal haul.

Delap's Response and Influence

Hull displayed plenty of fight throughout, but the better chances consistently fell Chelsea’s way. Estêvão ought to have opened the deadlock when he went past goalkeeper Dillon Phillips before unbelievably firing over. Delap then had a similar horror incident in front of goal against his old team.

He blocked a the goalkeeper's kick which bounced off the bar, and Delap started to run away believing the ball had crossed the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he understood, Hull's backline had responded to avert the threat.

The player had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was immensely instrumental from there on out, registering three assists. The first was for the opening goal as his through ball teed up Neto to score from outside the box. Six minutes after the second half began, it was 2-0 as Neto's set-piece went straight in through the keeper's legs.

Contest Put Beyond Doubt and Focus Turns

Soon after Neto’s second, the match was put beyond doubt as a dazzling run from Delap teed up Estêvão to tap into an unguarded goal. Neto then completed his treble as Delap again played the crucial pass for the attacker to calmly convert by a stranded goalkeeper.

By that stage, the work Hull had done in the opening half-hour had been erased. Their focus must now return to securing a promotion to the top division under their manager, who rested a number of key players with that goal in mind.

"I think we deserved at least one goal but if we play like this we will be in a strong situation in the Championship," he said. "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 almost claimed a late goal when Lewis Koumas struck a post in injury time. But this was Chelsea’s evening, and another encouraging stride for their new head coach at a place he is familiar with very well.

Cup History Are Good

The result resulted in an ultimately straightforward evening’s work, and the cup competition signs are good from here for Chelsea. They have played Hull on three previous occasions in this competition in the past ten years and every single time, they have progressed to make the final. Much still done in that respect, but this was another significant tick for the Chelsea boss.