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Amid freezing rain, flurries, and a biting wind off the waters of the Humber Estuary, combined with a resolute home side pushing hard for promotion, this had all the ingredients of a difficult evening’s task for Chelsea.

"We could have added to our tally but the opposition are a good team and it was a tough fixture; I am delighted with the display," he said. "Hull City is very special to me so it was great to get a positive welcome from both sets of fans. The attitude of the lads was excellent."

Liam Rosenior has this city dear to him, given some of his family are from Hull and his enjoyable period in charge of the Tigers. 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.

Clinical Edge Secures Comfortable Win

Three days removed from letting slip a two-goal lead in the league, there was a sniff of vulnerability about Chelsea going into this intriguing tie. The capacity Hull crowd evidently felt it too, but Rosenior's men navigated the challenge with ease.

The manager made alterations, enacting multiple of them to his starting lineup. The tie might and maybe should have been settled long before it actually was, with two the Brazilian winger and Liam Delap guilty of spurning glorious chances to put Chelsea in front in the first half.

But, luckily for the away team, Pedro Neto was in a far more ruthless frame of mind. He opened the deadlock with a marvellous long-range effort, which acted as the spark for his team to assume control of proceedings. By full time, they had four, with Neto netting three of them for a superb three-goal haul.

The Forward's Response and Influence

Hull showed plenty of spirit all game, but the clearer opportunities consistently fell Chelsea’s way. The winger ought to have broken the deadlock when he went past keeper the Hull stopper before inexplicably shooting 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 back from the crossbar, and Delap started to run away believing the ball had gone over the line. It had not, and by the time he understood, Hull's defenders had reacted to avert the danger.

The player had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was hugely influential from there on out, registering three key passes. The first was for the opening goal as his through ball teed up his teammate to finish from outside the box. Six minutes after the restart, it was 2-0 as the forward's set-piece went straight in through Phillips's legs.

Contest Put Beyond Doubt and Focus Turns

Soon after Neto’s second, the tie was effectively ended as a dazzling run from Delap laid on his teammate to tap into an empty net. Neto then completed his hat-trick as Delap once again played the crucial pass for the striker to calmly convert past a helpless Phillips.

At that point, the work Hull had done in the first thirty minutes had been erased. Their focus must now return to securing a return to the Premier League under their manager, who rested a number of first-choice individuals with that goal in mind.

"I think we deserved at least one goal but if we play like this we will be in a very good situation in the league," he said. "Keep fighting, maybe in the upcoming games this can be a positive example of how we must play."

Hull showed great endeavour to the final whistle, and they nearly got a consolation when Lewis Koumas hit a post in stoppage time. But this was Chelsea’s evening, and another encouraging stride for their recently-appointed manager at a place he is familiar with intimately.

FA Cup Omens Look Good

The result resulted in an in the end routine night's work, and the cup competition omens are positive from here for the winners. They have faced Hull on three other times in this tournament in the past ten years and on each occasion, they have gone on to make the final. There is still done in that regard, but this was another significant positive for the Chelsea boss.