JOSE Mourinho was delighted with the fighting qualities demonstrated by his depleted Chelsea side as they overcame a first-half shock to kill-off Macclesfield's hopes of causing one of the biggest upsets in FA Cup history.

A hat-trick from Frank Lampard and goals from Shaun Wright-Phillips, Mikel Jon Obi and Ricardo Carvalho put Chelsea into the next round of the competition after John Murphy's equaliser had briefly raised Town's hopes of causing a shock.

But Macclesfield's dreams were cruelly shattered seconds after the re-start when goalkeeper Tommy Lee was harshly adjudged to have felled Andriy Shevchenko in the penalty area and was red-carded by referee Lee Mason.

Mourinho rested four regular first team stars in Claude Makelele, Michael Essien, Michael Ballack and top scorer Didier Drogba while injuries had robbed him of John Terry, Joe Cole, goalkeepers Carlo Cudicini and Petr Cech, Dutch winger Arjen Robben and defender Khalid Boulahrouz.

But the Portuguese coach used their current selection problems to hit back at the critics who have lambasted their defensive woes in recent weeks.

Mourinho said: "Nobody would survive like we are doing under such a bad luck wave.

"A team used to rotation and internal competition was transformed into a little group of players, without alternatives, playing in the wrong positions to try and resolve empty spaces and we are doing okay and surviving.

"We face our problems with courage, we face them together, fighting, trying to hide the problems we have now with selection."

As if to underline their plight, it was 13 minutes before Chelsea managed a shot on goal but then they twice came close to opening the scoring in a matter of seconds.

Shevchenko forced Lee into a save when Jordan Hadfield had failed to control a loose ball in the penalty area and then Salomon Kalou shot just wide from 18 yards.

Their attempts were a portent of what was to follow though as Chelsea took the lead in the 16th minute through Lampard.

Kalou outstripped Carl Regan for pace on the left flank and when Wright-Phillips failed to fire home his cross, the ball fell perfectly for Lampard to slot home his 10th of the season from six yards.

The League Two side had come into the game on the back of eight wins and two draws under Ince and they deservedly grabbed a shock equaliser five minutes before the interval.

Carvalho was the guilty culprit for the champions when he made a hash of an attempted clearance to leave Murphy clear on goal.

Dreams

The big Macclesfield striker made no mistake with his finish as he sent his shot through the legs of the diving Hilario.

But the joy of the travelling Macclesfield army turned out be short lived as Lampard restored Chelsea lead within a minute.

Alan Navarro failed to control the ball in midfield and when Lampard took possession, he sent a 20-yard drive underneath Lee to put the Premiership champions back in front.

Macclesfield's dreams of a cup upset disappeared when goalkeeper Lee was harshly sent off by Mason for colliding with Shevchenko a minute after the restart.

The Ukrainian forward had been put through by Wright-Phillips but lost his footing and was already falling when he fell over the onrushing Lee.

Town, with no reserve 'keeper on the bench, replaced striker Matt McNeil with James Jennings while defender and captain David Morley went in goal.

Their plight was worsened seconds later when Lampard converted the spot-kick to complete his hat-trick.

Morley showed his prowess in the 54th minute when he saved superbly to deny Shevchenko as he burst into the penalty area in a bid to finish off a clever pass from Kalou.

In the 63rd minute though Macclesfield demonstrated their fighting spirit was still evident as goalscorer Murphy forced Hilario to tip his shot over the bar.

But the England winger finally found the target in the 66th minute when he got on the end of a Lampard cross to poke the ball home for Chelsea's fourth.

Town, who had used all their allotted subs, were reduced to nine-men when Miles was forced to leave the action through injury and Chelsea hit a fifth in the 81st minute through Mikel - his first for the club.

The scoring was completed four minutes from time when defender Carvalho drove home from eight yards after Morley had spilled a cross from Wright-Phillips into his path.

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