Neil Critchley praised the patience of his Blackpool side as their impressive home form continued with a 2-0 win over Exeter.
Long-range Albie Morgan strikes either side of half time earned the Tangerines their 10th home league win of the season – the most of any side in Sky Bet League One.
Critchley’s side remain within four points of the play-offs and the 45-year-old hailed the mentality of his players in the face of increased expectations.
“We can’t expect to just turn up and win,” he said. “That applies to all of us.
“Due to our home record, there’s an expectation that we turn up and win, but it’s not like that. It’s a total shift in mentality from my previous time here and last season as well.
“It takes a different mindset to understand, it’s not easy to beat opponents with everyone behind the ball, it takes time and patience.
“You have to work for those opportunities. In my opinion, we were the deserved winners.
“They obviously came with a plan to frustrate us and wait for us to make a mistake and counter, but we made very few errors.
“Albie (Morgan) showed what he’s capable of, and then the second goal was a great strike as well.
“We were a little bit wasteful and not clinical enough. It nearly became a game it should never have been, at 3-0 the game would’ve been completely dead and buried.”
Jordan Rhodes saw a 25th-minute penalty saved by Viljami Sinisalo, but it did not prove overly costly as Morgan slammed home from long range six minutes before the break.
The 23-year-old doubled his tally with an equally-stylish finish early in the second half to seal the outcome against an Exeter side who remain just three points above the relegation zone following a ninth successive away league match without a win.
“They [Blackpool] are the best team at home in the league for a reason, they have good players all over the park and they cause you a lot of problems,” said Grecians boss Gary Caldwell.
“We restricted them to few chances and they scored two good goals from outside the box.
“We caused ourselves too many problems, but we were better in the second half and even at 2-0, I thought there was something there for us.”
Ben Purrington made his debut for the visitors at Bloomfield Road and Caldwell hopes more reinforcements will arrive to boost his side’s survival bid.
“We are speaking to agents, clubs and players and come the end of the window I’m sure we’ll bring more players in,” he said.
“But they have to be the right players. I know it’s frustrating for the fans but we have to be patient.”
Dream debut: Dixon shines with goal, assist on debut for Charlton U21s in 3-2 win over Watford
Reggae Boy Kaheim Dixon was on the scoresheet in his debut for Charlton Athletic U21s in a 3-2 win over Watford at Vicarage Road on Friday.
Charlton took the lead after just two minutes through a goal from Henry Rylah before Watford got their equalizer through Mamadou Doumbia a minute later.
The 19-year-old Dixon, who joined the League One club from Arnett Gardens in August, then capitalized from a defensive mistake by Watford to put his team up 2-1.
Charlton then went two goals clear thanks to Mile Leaburn, who was assisted by Dixon.
Doumbia got his second goal of the game to finish the scoring at 3-2.
Charlton U21s now have 19 points in seven games in the Professional Development League.
The win strengthens lead atop the table to six points.
They will next take on Brentford U21s on October 1.
Alcaraz beaten on Laver Cup debut with Zverev in doubles
Carlos Alcaraz suffered defeat on his Laver Cup debut, as he was beaten in straight sets alongside Alexander Zverev in doubles by Taylor Fritz and Ben Shelton.
Team Europe put up a strong fight but struggled to match Fritz and Shelton, who won 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 in one hour and 37 minutes.
Alcaraz and Zverev made a slow start to the match, losing their serve in the fourth game as the Americans went on a three-game winning streak, but they pulled it back to level the tie, only to lose the tie-break.
Team Europe looked to have found their groove in the second set but failed to convert four break points in the fourth game as Fritz and Shelton levelled the score at 2-2.
A three-game winning run at the end of the set, including one more break, was enough to get Team World over the line, pulling them back to 2-2 at the end of day one.
Francisco Cerundolo had originally given Team World the lead with a shock win over Casper Ruud before Stefanos Tsitsipas and Grigor Dimitrov's wins had put Team Europe 2-1 up.
Walter proud of 'courageous' Hull after comeback win
Tim Walter says he is proud of his "courageous" Hull City side after earning his first win in charge, beating Stoke City 3-1.
Narcis Pelach led the Potters out for the first time on Friday and saw his side take a 1-0 lead through Ben Wilmot into half-time.
However, Hull came out fighting in the second half to claim three points for the first time this season.
Kasey Palmer saw a penalty saved just after the hour mark but turned in the rebound before goals from Regan Slater and an own goal from Wilmot completed their late turnaround.
It is a win that propels the Tigers from 19th to 13th in the Championship, above Stoke, and Walter believes it has been a long time coming.
"It's hard to describe because I never had this feeling before. I've never not had a win in five games, so for me, it's a new situation," Walter told Sky Sports.
"But I also knew the whole time that we can win. Today we did it and that's the reason I'm really proud of my boys. They deserved to win.
"I'm happy because they always believed they can win and that's important.
"After conceding the goal, we were better. We were more courageous. We showed more bravery and that's the key to the result."
Pelach succeeded Steven Schumacher as Stoke's manager following his shock sacking earlier this week, having won two of the five matches under the Englishman at the start of the season.
Stoke managed 14 shots against Hull, but only two efforts on target, with both of those coming in the first 45 minutes.
Despite starting with a defeat, Pelach is looking for the positives after such a short time with the squad.
"It's a pity we couldn't win the game," Pelach told BBC Radio Stoke.
"We wanted to take the points, but I think the lads tried to put a new style of play in place.
"But in the second half, we lost control and ran out of energy. We should have pressed more, but we will try to explain this tomorrow and keep working on the defensive style.
"There is some things to work on mentally and we will do it. We will take the positives, and we will improve."
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