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Against a backdrop of freezing rain, snow, and a biting wind from the waters of the Humber, alongside a determined Hull City side fighting for a top-flight place, this presented all the ingredients of a challenging evening’s task for Chelsea.

"We could have scored more but the opposition are a good team and it was a tough tie; I’m delighted with the display," he said. "This club is very special to me so it was nice to get a positive reception from both sets of supporters. The attitude of the lads was superb."

The Rosenior holds this city dear to him, given some of his family hail from Hull and his successful spell in management of the Championship club. His positive association was extended with a commanding performance from his squad, who ultimately strolled into the next round of the famous old competition.

Clinical Finishing Secures Comfortable Win

Three days removed from letting slip a two-goal advantage in the Premier League, there was a hint of vulnerability about them going into this potentially tricky cup clash. The capacity home support evidently sensed it too, but Rosenior's men navigated the challenge with ease.

The manager made alterations, making seven of them to his starting lineup. The tie might and maybe ought to have been decided earlier than it eventually was, with both Estêvão Willian and the forward at fault for spurning excellent opportunities to put their side ahead in the first half.

However, luckily for the away team, their Portuguese attacker was in a much more ruthless frame of mind. He broke the deadlock with a spectacular distance effort, which acted as the spark for his team to assume control of the match. By the final whistle, they had four, with Neto scoring a trio of them for a brilliant hat-trick.

The Forward's Response and Impact

The home side displayed plenty of spirit all game, but the clearer opportunities always came Chelsea’s way. Estêvão ought to have opened the deadlock when he rounded keeper the Hull stopper before inexplicably shooting over. Delap then had a similar horror incident in front of goal against his former club.

He blocked a the goalkeeper's kick which bounced back from the crossbar, and he started to celebrate thinking the ball had gone over the line. It had not, and by the time he understood, Hull's backline had responded to clear the danger.

The player had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was hugely influential from there on out, registering 3 key passes. The opening was for the opening goal as his pass set up his teammate to score from range. Shortly after the restart, it was 2-0 as Neto's set-piece went straight in under Phillips's legs.

Contest Sealed and Focus Turns

Soon after Neto’s second, the match was put beyond doubt as a magnificent dribble from the forward teed up his teammate to slide into an empty net. Neto then completed his hat-trick as the provider once again delivered the decisive pass for the striker to calmly slot by a helpless goalkeeper.

By that stage, the work Hull had done in the first thirty minutes had long since erased. Their priority must now return to achieving a promotion to the top division under Sergej Jakirovic, who left out several first-choice individuals with that aim in mind.

"In my opinion we earned at least one goal but if we play like this we will be in a strong position in the league," the Hull manager commented. "Never surrender, maybe in the upcoming games this can be a good example of how we must play."

Hull showed plenty of effort to the final whistle, and they nearly claimed a late goal when a substitute struck a post in injury time. But this was Chelsea’s night, and another encouraging step forward for their recently-appointed head coach at a place he is familiar with intimately.

FA Cup Omens Look Promising

That made for an ultimately straightforward night's work, and the FA Cup-shaped omens are good from here for Chelsea. They have played Hull on three previous occasions in this tournament in the past ten years and on each occasion, they have gone on to make the showpiece. Much remains to be work in that respect, but this was another huge positive for Rosenior.