Notts County boss Luke Williams has apologised for comments made after their win over Yeovil on Saturday in regards to Southend United's Jack Bridge.
A report released by The Athletic last week explained that the Magpies had made several bids for the 27-year-old, with their latest offer reportedly a five-figure sum.
Williams spoke of his interest in the Shrimpers' top scorer following the win at Huish Park which saw Macaulay Langstaff take his tally to 30 for the season.
READ MORE: Five things learned from Notts County's 4-1 win over Yeovil
But his comments frustrated the Southend boss ahead of their National League clash at Meadow Lane on Tuesday evening, with Maher calling the situation 'bemusing'.
Speaking to the Southend Echo, Maher said: “It’s an easy question to bat off, just say we’re not talking about other team’s players and it moves on.
“We’re disappointed with that but it is what it is - it’s slightly bemusing but we only focus on our team and what we do.
“They’ve mentioned Jack and he’s done brilliantly for us and it’s a reflection of the work that goes on here that he loves being at the club - he’s a great player and a great person."
The Southend boss went on further to explain that Notts' offer was 'nowhere near acceptable' in their estimation of one of their prized assets.
But speaking ahead of Tuesday's fixture, Williams was quick to apologise for his comments made at the weekend, further pointing out his respect for Maher and what the football club are achieving this campaign.
"I think that is totally fair and I think I got caught a little bit on the back foot and I was still in game mode and answered the question very poorly and caused some bad feeling - that was not my intention," he said.
"I do apologise because the people at Southend are really good people and they did make me feel very welcome as they said when we played there.
"I needed to make a point of showing my respect to the football club and bat the question away, and I made a hash of that and I do apologise for that, I really do and I respect the club and what they are doing when they are up against constraints and things like that, they are doing a good job."
The Magpies left it late to extend their winning run in the league to six games following a late flurry of goals from Ruben Rodrigues and a Langstaff double.
And the performance was not reflective on the result, with Williams explaining his frustrations following the win in Somerset - with the Notts chief explaining that he was perhaps in the wrong head space after such a disappointing performance from his side.
"I think that I needed to stay away from commenting until such time when something is imminent but that's not the case at all, there is nothing to talk about and I should not have mentioned anything really.
"It was the wrong time to speak about anything and should have been a simple case of me moving on to the next question and I made a pig's ear of that.
"I was probably in the wrong head space and probably inexperienced in that way and I accept that, and we would like to apologise and concentrate on the game at hand.
"It's challenging but then you have to know that when you are talking publicly there is a lot of people that can be affected by your words and I need to do a better job of that.
"It's not something that I have done hugely throughout my career as I have been a first-team coach or an assistant coach, but I have enough experience to know that I should have navigated the question and been more sympathetic for other people listening in.
"I am going to learn from that for sure, and I don't have any problems with the comments made in my direction, I actually agree with the comments made from the camp at Southend."
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