Liam Rosenior is about to make an emotional trip back to Hull, and honestly, it means a lot more to him than just another match. He opened up about his late grandmother, Nanny Cath, who absolutely loved the club. She was a season-ticket holder, and Rosenior played and managed there himself; it’s all pretty close to his heart.

Chelsea kick off the FA Cup fourth round this weekend at Hull’s MKM Stadium, and Rosenior can’t shake the feeling that Nanny Cath had something to do with this draw. She’s buried less than a mile from Hull’s training ground. The whole Rosenior family is coming together for the game in Yorkshire, which doesn’t happen often.

Chelsea’s head coach wants to steer clear of an FA Cup upset, but for Rosenior, this tie is special. He talked about the first time he joined Hull: “I went there on trial, no contract, nothing. I took Nanny Cath to the local Harvester, sat her down, and told her, ‘I’m going to sign for Hull City.’ She was already a season ticket holder, so she was thrilled. Sadly, she passed away, and now she’s buried just down the road from where the team trains. When I took the Hull job, it was almost exactly a year after her funeral. You can tell this club really matters to me; I get emotional just talking about it.”

He swears there’s something else at play, maybe a little bit of help from above. “I used to visit Hull every summer as a kid, when she lived there. I went to Boothferry Park to watch games. Strangely, I’m from London, but I feel this pull to Hull. Plus, Hull is twinned with Freetown, and I’m from Sierra Leone. There are all these weird connections.”

For him and his family, this weekend is a big deal. They’ll all get together Friday night, which is rare since they live so far apart. Still, Rosenior says he’s locked in on the match and ready to give everything.

It’s a full-circle moment for him. Back in 2014, Rosenior played in the FA Cup final with Hull, only to lose 3-2 to Arsenal after extra time. Mikel Arteta was the Arsenal captain that day. “I went from being on trial at Hull to captaining them in Europe and playing in an FA Cup final. Those are the memories you want, and that’s what I want to build at Chelsea now.”

But he’s also got work to do. After Chelsea blew a 2-0 lead against Leeds and ended up drawing 2-2, Rosenior pulled the squad together the next morning at Cobham. He made them watch clips from the game, including the two goals they let in after some pretty shaky defending.

“It wasn’t just the two mistakes,” he said. “We talked about things like how we manage the game after we score and what that should look like.”

Rosenior’s determined to get things right, and he’s not wasting time. “My job is to make this team as good as possible, as fast as possible. We had a good meeting to clear things up. In football, mistakes happen. That’s just part of it. What frustrated me was that there was so much good stuff in that game, but now we’re all talking about the mistakes. The players need to know that, so next time we play like that, we’re celebrating three points instead.”

Liam Rosenior didn’t hold back after Chelsea’s frustrating 2-2 draw with Leeds United, and he had some pointed words for Moises Caicedo.

For a while, things looked good for Chelsea. They were cruising; Joao Pedro scored in the first half, and Cole Palmer added a penalty after the break. At 2-0, it felt like they’d continue their perfect run under Rosenior.

But then it unravelled. Caicedo tripped Jayden Bogle in the box, handing Leeds a penalty. Lukas Nmecha converted, and just minutes later, Noah Okafor took advantage of a messy Chelsea mix-up to equalise. Two goals in six minutes, and just like that, Chelsea’s lead vanished.

A win would’ve pushed Chelsea ahead of Manchester United into the top four, but now they’re stuck in fifth, deflated and frustrated.

Rosenior called the whole thing “ridiculous”. Chelsea dominated most of the game, and Palmer even missed a sitter late on that could’ve sealed it. In the press conference, Rosenior didn’t sugarcoat things.

“We lost our heads in two big moments,” he said. “Moi’s a great player; he’s been excellent since I arrived, but that was a bad decision. We gave away a penalty. Suddenly, they’re launching long balls, picking up scraps, and then the handball just threw us off. We need to be more professional and handle these key moments better.”

He couldn’t believe Leeds managed to score twice in five minutes, especially with Chelsea controlling the rest of the match. “Honestly, I can’t remember Leeds having much else.”

On Palmer’s glaring miss, Rosenior just shook his head. “Ninety-nine times out of a hundred, he scores that. It’s just that one time he doesn’t, and it costs us. But really, we shouldn’t be in that situation. At 2-0, the game should be done and dusted. I need to show the players what went wrong so it doesn’t happen again.”

Joao Pedro, who got Chelsea’s first goal, was just as frustrated. “We started well, went 1-0, then 2-0, and then let them back in. It’s been like this all season. We need to be more consistent and focused and finish games off. We’ve dropped points at home before. If we want Champions League football, we can’t afford this.”

Leeds, meanwhile, probably can’t believe their luck. They’re 15th now, six points clear of the drop.

Next up, Chelsea head to Hull City for the FA Cup, while Leeds travel to Birmingham City. Both teams have plenty to think about.