difficulty unplugging hard drive thermal sensor cable

I am in need of some help if possible. i am attempting to upgrade the aging hard drive in my mac mini A1176 to an ssd. i have the shell off and everything taken apart, but i am having trouble removing the hard drive sensor cable. i do not have the tweezers shown in the pictures but i have tried several sets. when i clamp on the top of the connection (not the cables) i pull and it seems to be pulling the entire board and not the connector. I dont want to break this off but not sure how to safely remove it. also when i pull too hard it loses grip and clamps the cables, which i also do not want to clip. any advice on how to remove this? or is there a way to get to the hard drive without remove this connector? thanks