Sean Dyche praised the improved resilience of his Everton side but admitted they were "a little bit off it" after extending their unbeaten run to four games with a 1-1 draw at Luton Town.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin opened the scoring at Kenilworth Road with a 24th-minute penalty after Jarrad Branthwaite had been wrestled to the ground by Teden Mengi.
The hosts restored parity seven minutes later when Elijah Adebayo, on his first start since February having been sidelined with injury, drilled a left-footed shot past Jordan Pickford.
Speaking afterwards, Dyche says he was pleased with the commitment of his players, who he believed showed signs of playing plenty of "high-pressure football" recently, having recorded three wins in the space of six days last week to guarantee Premier League football for next term.
"We weren't where we've been performance-wise but credit to Luton," said Dyche. "They've put a lot of pressure on with longer play and diags - nothing wrong with that, by the way. I thought, overall, we dealt with that pretty well, obviously they did score a goal from that but I think we dealt with it pretty well overall.
"Because I know the players well, I thought we were just off it - not on the beach, by the way, but just a little bit off it.
"It looked like we've played a lot of football, a lot of high-pressure football that we've had to come through and get results, so I'll forgive them for that because they've put a lot into this season.
"I think just the quality of our play and the demand of winning just softened a little bit - but the thing that is improving this season is the resilience of the side that, possibly, in the past would have gone under in games like that. We didn't. We were throwing ourselves in at the end, making sure we were getting blocks on and get ourselves a point against a team who are fighting for their lives and fair play to them because they've got to a point in the season where they've got a chance after nobody giving them a chance.
"It means a lot to them and they're putting a lot into the box, asking questions, so credit to them."
As well as being awarded a penalty that was converted by Calvert-Lewin, the Toffees had two more appeals for spot-kicks in Bedfordshire.
Reflecting on the decisions to wave those away, Dyche said: "On another day, I know there is a lot of noise about penalties but I'm amazed we didn't get another one.
"The one on Dwight McNeil, his foot clearly goes on top of Dwight and I'm very surprised that it wasn't given.
"The other one on Beto, you never know, but with that [McNeil] one, from the penalties I've seen given this season, I was very surprised we didn't get it."
Asked about the VAR's verdict of "minimal contact" on McNeil, Dyche continued: "I think everyone is wondering about that minimal contact. That's the third one we've had this season and I know there is a lot of noise from other clubs as well. Jimmy Garner had one, Dom had one... If you stand on someone's foot, how can you run? That's what I'd say.
"If your foot is in the air and you get tapped then you can handle that but if you stand on someone's foot when they're going to run then it's probably going to bring them down."
