Chelsea forward Liam Delap has spoken about his horror miss for the Blues against Hull City in the fourth round of the FA Cup on Friday night. The striker thought he had opened the scoring after blocking a clearance attempt from goalkeeper Dillon Phillips. Delap even started celebrating before watching the ball hit the underside of the crossbar and bounce away from goal.

Chelsea advanced to the fifth round of the FA Cup at the MKM Stadium after beating Hull thanks to a hat trick from Pedro Neto and a goal from Estevao. However, it was a curious night for Delap, who once again failed to find the back of the net. He should have scored in the first half, but did not make sure the ball had crossed the line after blocking the goalkeeper's clearance.

Delap managed to collect the loose ball and shot toward the goal, but watched Phillips block his effort. The forward finished the match with three assists but has scored only two goals in 23 games for Chelsea this season and has not scored in his last nine appearances for the Blues.

Delap admitted afterward that he was convinced the ball had gone in. He told TNT Sports, "I swear on my life, I almost started running off. I thought it was in. Obviously, I was waiting for the referee's whistle. I should have smashed it in again, but it was crazy. It was stupid of me, but I thought it was in."

The miss drew criticism from commentators and Premier League all-time leading scorer Alan Shearer. He told BBC Sport: "Oh my word. What is Delap doing? It's like he thinks, 'I've got all the time in the world.' He calmly walks up and takes his time. What are you waiting for? Liam Delap has not had a good 4 minutes. He's given the ball away twice and missed an absolute sitter. Delap has been very poor, and he's been given a chance tonight. Delap looks very lazy; he's got to improve."

Delap managed to recover and recorded a hat trick of assists in the match, earning praise from Shearer after the game. He added, "Delap recovered well from that start, and he's been instrumental in the victory. He deserves a lot of credit for it."

Chelsea manager Liam Rosenior praised Delap for his performance after the match. He told reporters: "An excellent performance. To be a No. 9, especially in the system that we play, it's not always about yourself. It's about involving other players in the game.

Sometimes you have to sacrifice yourself so that other players can have space. In my opinion, he started our press really well again. But, in a way, it's good that so many different players are being highlighted, which means the team performance was really good. And, from 1 to 15, I thought tonight was a really, very good performance."

Rosenior also spoke about his team's performance and explained why he was so impressed with his players. He added, "I think overall the biggest positive was the application of the team. I think our pressing, our intensity, our work rate, and Pedro were an example of that, if I'm honest. That's why he scores the goals he scores. I'm very lucky to have such talented players.

I'm realizing quickly that they're not only good players, but exceptional professionals. I thought we put in a really professional performance tonight against a very good team that is fighting for the Premier League. It's not an easy match. Part of our game was everything I wanted to see, but, before that, the values the team showed tonight made me really happy as a coach."

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