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Amid freezing rain, flurries, and a swirling wind off the banks of the Humber, alongside a resolute Hull City side pushing hard for a top-flight place, this presented all the makings of a difficult night's work for Chelsea.

"We could have scored more but the opposition are a strong team and it was a difficult tie; I’m very pleased with the performance," he said. "Hull City is very special to me so it was nice to get a good reception from both sets of fans. The attitude of the players was superb."

Liam Rosenior has this city dear to him, considering part of his family hail from Hull and his successful spell in management of the Championship club. His happy association continued with a commanding performance from his squad, who ultimately strolled into the next round of the FA Cup.

Deadly Finishing Seals Comfortable Win

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

The manager made alterations, enacting seven of them to his XI. The match might and perhaps ought to have been settled earlier than it actually was, with two the Brazilian winger and Liam Delap at fault for missing glorious chances to put Chelsea ahead in the first half.

However, fortunately for the away team, Pedro Neto was in a much more ruthless mood. He broke the deadlock with a spectacular distance effort, which proved to be the catalyst for Chelsea to assume control of the match. By the final whistle, they had four, with the forward scoring a trio of them for a superb three-goal haul.

Delap's Redemption and Influence

Hull displayed plenty of fight throughout, but the clearer opportunities always came Chelsea’s way. Estêvão ought to have opened the scoring when he went past keeper Dillon Phillips before unbelievably firing over. Delap then had a similar nightmare moment in front of goal against his former club.

He blocked a Phillips's kick which bounced back from the bar, and Delap began to run away believing the ball had gone over the line. It had not, and by the time he realised, Hull's backline had reacted to clear the danger.

The player had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was immensely influential from there on out, providing 3 key passes. The first was for the opening goal as his through ball teed up his teammate to finish from outside the box. Shortly after the restart, it was 2-0 as the forward's set-piece went straight in through Phillips's legs.

Contest Sealed and Attention Turns

Soon after the second, the tie was put beyond doubt as a magnificent run from the forward teed up his teammate to slide into an unguarded goal. Neto then finished his hat-trick as the provider again delivered the decisive ball for the attacker to calmly slot by a helpless Phillips.

By that stage, the effort Hull had done in the first thirty minutes had been erased. Their priority must now switch back to achieving a return to the top division under their manager, who left out several first-choice individuals with that goal 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 Championship," he said. "Keep fighting, maybe in the next matches this can be a positive example of how we must play."

Hull showed plenty of effort to the end, and they nearly claimed a late goal when a substitute struck a the upright in injury time. But this was Chelsea’s night, and another positive step forward for their recently-appointed manager at a place he is familiar with very well.

Cup Omens Are Good

That made for an ultimately routine night's performance, and the cup competition signs are good from here for the winners. They have faced Hull on three other times in this tournament in the last decade and on each occasion, they have progressed to make the showpiece. Much still done in that regard, but this was another huge tick for the Chelsea boss.