Liam Rosenior was pleased to see his Chelsea team do their talking on the pitch, acknowledging they had endured a tough period before thrashing Port Vale 7-0.

The Blues booked their place in the FA Cup semi-finals in impressive fashion on Saturday, as they put League One's bottom side to the sword at Stamford Bridge.

They became the first team to score seven goals in an FA Cup quarter-final since Liverpool beat Birmingham City 7-0 in 2005-06, when the Reds went on to lift the trophy.

Chelsea have only recorded a larger margin of victory in the FA Cup on one previous occasion, beating Worksop Town 9-1 in 1908, while it was Port Vale's heaviest-ever defeat in the FA Cup proper.

And the commanding victory came after Rosenior dropped Enzo Fernandez from his squad over comments the midfielder made during the international break, in which he suggested he would be open to a move to Real Madrid.

Fernandez will also be excluded when the Blues take on Manchester City next weekend, though there will be no disciplinary action taken against Marc Cucurella after the left-back questioned the club's decision to part company with former boss Enzo Maresca in January.

Speaking to TNT Sports after Saturday's win, Rosenior said: "Football is about football on the pitch. This is a huge club with a lot of scrutiny, a lot of people writing a lot of things. 

"We had a really difficult 10 days, but the way we came through is a really good step for the run-in.

"This is why you come to this club, you want to win trophies, you want to be in big games, and I was really happy with the players. 

"Their attitude was top. We scored seven goals and that came from an energy and intensity that I enjoyed.

"I said, 'play like it's 0-0; we have to be perfect'. I thought the players were outstanding in terms of carrying that out."

Port Vale boss Jon Brady, meanwhile, expressed pride at the way his side competed but was frustrated to see their deficit extended from five goals to seven late on.

"We put ourselves under extreme pressure by conceding in the first minute. There were three set-pieces, which we didn't defend well enough," he said.

"Very frustrating. It shows in the end. To keep it at four or five would have been respectable, but to concede the last two was a bit of a gut punch.

"I'm proud of the players overall. It shows how ruthless the players are at this level and it's something we can strive towards. 

"It's a fantastic achievement what we did. We beat a Premier League team [Sunderland] and a Championship team [Bristol City] in one week. 

"We know our fate has probably been sealed to League Two and we have to come back fighting next year."