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Amid sleet, snow, and a swirling wind from the waters of the Humber Estuary, alongside a determined Hull City side fighting for a top-flight place, this presented all the ingredients of a challenging evening’s task for the visitors.

"We might have added to our tally but Hull are a good team and it was a difficult fixture; I am very pleased with the display," he said. "This club is very special to me so it was great to get a positive welcome from both sets of supporters. The attitude of the lads was excellent."

The Rosenior holds this city dear to him, considering some of his family are from Hull and his enjoyable period in management of the Tigers. His positive connection continued with a magnificent display from his squad, who in the end sauntered into the next round of the famous old competition.

Clinical Finishing Secures Comprehensive Victory

Three days removed from letting slip a 2-0 advantage in the Premier League, there was a sniff of fragility about them going into this intriguing cup clash. The packed Hull crowd clearly sensed it too, but Rosenior's men handled the challenge perfectly.

The manager rang the changes, making seven of them to his XI. The tie might and perhaps ought to have been settled earlier than it eventually was, with two Estêvão Willian and Liam Delap guilty of spurning excellent chances to put their side in front in the opening period.

However, luckily for the away team, their Portuguese attacker was in a far more clinical frame of mind. He broke the deadlock with a spectacular distance effort, which proved to be the catalyst for his team to take control of the match. By full time, they had four, with Neto netting three of them for a superb three-goal haul.

Delap's Redemption and Impact

The home side displayed plenty of fight all game, but the clearer chances consistently fell Chelsea’s way. The winger should have opened the scoring when he rounded goalkeeper the Hull stopper before unbelievably firing over. Delap then had a similar nightmare moment in front of goal against his former club.

He deflected a the goalkeeper's clearance which came off the bar, and he began to celebrate thinking the ball had crossed the line. It had not, and by the time he realised, Hull's backline had reacted to avert the danger.

Delap had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was hugely instrumental from that point onward, registering three key passes. The first was for the opening goal as his through ball set up Neto to finish from range. Shortly after the restart, it was two as the forward's corner went straight in through the keeper's legs.

Tie Sealed and Attention Shifts

Soon after Neto’s second goal, the tie was put beyond doubt as a dazzling dribble from the forward teed up Estêvão to tap into an unguarded goal. The hat-trick hero then finished his treble as the provider once again played the decisive ball for the striker to calmly slot by a stranded Phillips.

By that stage, the work Hull had put in in the opening half-hour had been erased. Their priority must now switch back to achieving a promotion to the top division under Sergej Jakirovic, who left out several key players with that goal in mind.

"In my opinion we deserved at least one goal but if we perform like this we will be in a very good position in the Championship," he said. "Keep fighting, maybe in the next games this can be a positive example of how we should play."

Hull showed plenty of endeavour to the final whistle, and they almost claimed a consolation when a substitute hit a post in stoppage time. But this was Chelsea’s evening, and another positive step forward for their new manager at a place he knows intimately.

FA Cup Omens Look Good

The result made for an in the end routine night's work, and the cup competition omens are good from here for Chelsea. They have faced Hull on three other times in this competition in the past ten years and on each occasion, they have progressed to make the final. Much remains to be work in that regard, but this was another significant tick for the Chelsea boss.