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Amid sleet, snow, and a biting breeze from the banks of the Humber Estuary, alongside a resolute Hull City side pushing hard for promotion, this had all the ingredients of a difficult night's task for Chelsea.

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

The Rosenior holds this place dear to him, given some of his relatives are from Hull and his successful spell in charge of the Championship club. His happy association continued with a magnificent performance from his squad, who ultimately strolled into the fifth round of the famous old competition.

Clinical Edge Seals Comprehensive Victory

Three days after surrendering a 2-0 lead in the Premier League, there was a hint of vulnerability about them going into this intriguing tie. The packed Hull crowd clearly sensed it too, but the London side navigated the challenge with ease.

The manager rang the changes, enacting multiple of them to his XI. The match could and maybe ought to have been settled earlier than it eventually was, with both Estêvão Willian and Liam Delap at fault for missing excellent chances to put Chelsea ahead in the first half.

However, luckily for the visitors, Pedro Neto was in a far more clinical mood. He broke the scoring with a marvellous long-range effort, which proved to be the spark for his team to assume control of the match. By the final whistle, they had four, with Neto scoring three of them for a superb three-goal haul.

Delap's Response and Influence

The home side showed plenty of spirit throughout, but the better chances always came Chelsea’s way. Estêvão should have broken the scoring when he went past goalkeeper the Hull stopper before unbelievably firing over. The striker then had a comparable nightmare incident in front of goal against his old team.

He blocked a Phillips's kick which came back from the crossbar, and he began to celebrate believing the ball had crossed the line. It hadn’t, and by the time he realised, Hull's defenders had responded to avert the threat.

The player had his head in his hands after that moment, but he was immensely instrumental from that point onward, registering three assists. The opening was for the opening goal as his through ball teed up his teammate to score from range. Shortly after the restart, it was two as the forward's set-piece went directly in through the keeper's legs.

Contest Put Beyond Doubt and Focus Shifts

Seven minutes after the second goal, the match was effectively ended as a magnificent dribble from the forward teed up his teammate to slide into an unguarded goal. The hat-trick hero then finished his treble as the provider once again played the crucial ball for the striker to calmly convert by a stranded goalkeeper.

By that stage, the work Hull had put in in the first thirty minutes had long since forgotten. Their focus must now switch back to achieving a return to the Premier League under their manager, who left out a number of first-choice players with that goal in mind.

"I think 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. "Keep fighting, maybe in the upcoming matches this can be a good lesson of how we must play."

There was plenty of effort to the end, and they nearly claimed a consolation when Lewis Koumas struck a the upright in stoppage time. But this was Chelsea’s evening, and another encouraging step forward for their new manager at a place he knows very well.

FA Cup Omens Look Good

That made for an in the end routine night's performance, and the cup competition omens are positive from here for the winners. They have played Hull on three other occasions in this tournament in the last decade and on each occasion, they have progressed to make the showpiece. There is remains to be done in that regard, but this was another huge positive for the Chelsea boss.