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Amid freezing rain, snow, and a biting wind from the banks of the Humber, combined with a determined home side pushing hard for a top-flight place, this presented all the makings of a challenging night's work for the visitors.

"We might have scored more but Hull are a strong team and it was a tough tie; I am very pleased with the performance," the manager stated. "This club is very special to me so it was great to get a positive welcome from both sets of supporters. The application of the lads was superb."

Liam Chelsea manager holds this city close to his heart, given part of his family hail from Hull and his enjoyable spell in management of the Championship club. This positive association was extended with a commanding performance from his team, who in the end strolled into the next round of the famous old competition.

Deadly Edge Seals Comfortable Win

Seventy-two hours removed from letting slip a two-goal lead in the league, there was a hint of fragility about Chelsea going into this intriguing tie. The capacity Hull support clearly sensed it too, but Rosenior's men handled the task with ease.

The manager made alterations, making seven of them to his XI. The match might and perhaps should have been settled earlier than it eventually was, with two the Brazilian winger and the forward at fault for spurning excellent opportunities to put Chelsea ahead in the opening period.

But, fortunately for the visitors, their Portuguese attacker was in a far more ruthless frame of mind. He broke the deadlock with a spectacular distance strike, which proved to be the spark for Chelsea to take control of proceedings. By the final whistle, they had four, with the forward scoring a trio of them for a brilliant hat-trick.

Delap's Redemption and Impact

The home side displayed great spirit all game, but the clearer opportunities always fell Chelsea’s way. The winger should have broken the scoring when he rounded keeper Dillon Phillips before inexplicably firing over. Delap then had a similar nightmare incident in front of goal against his old team.

He deflected a Phillips's kick which bounced back from the bar, and Delap started to celebrate thinking the ball had gone over the line. It had not, and by the time he understood, Hull's defenders had reacted to avert the threat.

The player had his head in his hands after that miss, but he was immensely instrumental from that point onward, registering 3 assists. The first was for the first goal as his pass set up his teammate to score from outside the box. Six minutes after the restart, it was two as the forward's corner went straight in through the keeper's legs.

Tie Sealed and Attention Turns

Seven minutes after the second goal, the match was effectively ended as a magnificent dribble from Delap teed up Estêvão to tap into an unguarded goal. The hat-trick hero then finished his hat-trick as the provider once again played the decisive pass for the striker to calmly convert past a helpless Phillips.

At that point, the work Hull had done in the first half-hour had been erased. Their focus must now switch back to achieving a promotion to the Premier League under their manager, who rested several first-choice players with that goal in mind.

"I think we earned at least one goal but if we perform like this we will be in a strong situation in the Championship," he said. "Never surrender, maybe in the next matches this can be a good lesson of how we must play."

There was great effort to the final whistle, and they nearly claimed a consolation when a substitute hit a the upright in stoppage time. But this was Chelsea’s evening, and another positive stride for their new head coach at a place he is familiar with very well.

FA Cup Omens Are Promising

The result made for an ultimately straightforward night's performance, and the cup competition signs are good from here for the winners. They have faced Hull on three previous occasions in this tournament in the past ten years and every single time, they have progressed to make the final. Much remains to be done in that regard, but this was another significant positive for the Chelsea boss.