Essendon star Mark McVeigh will miss Friday night's crucial AFL clash with Carlton after accepting a striking suspension.

The 180-game Bombers midfielder copped a one-match ban after being cited for his forearm to the head of Melbourne defender Jared Rivers in Friday night's match at Etihad Stadium.

McVeigh has admitted he let down his teammates and Bombers' supporters with the act, which came shortly before three-quarter time, when Essendon led by 58 points.

The 28-year-old, who aspires to captain the side, was playing just his fourth game of the season, after missing a large chunk of football with an ankle injury.

His absence will be costly in an MCG encounter which is vital to both the Bombers and the Blues, who occupy the bottom two spots in the top eight, with both clubs on 6-6 records.

But had the club fought the charge, McVeigh would have risked missing another crucial clash, against Collingwood at the same venue a week later.

Bombers football manager Paul Hamilton said while the club could have contested the match review panel's grading of the hit as intentional, that would not have been enough to wipe off the one-match ban.

"It wouldn't have saved him a game, so to risk having another game added probably wasn't worth it," Hamilton said of the decision to plead guilty.

A penalty loading for a previous suspension also worked against McVeigh.

He was the only player offered a suspension from incidents in the weekend's three matches.

Geelong tagger Cameron Ling and Fremantle defender Antoni Grover were both charged with striking.

However, the lower grading of their charges means they can both accept reprimands.

Ling was charged with striking Dockers' youngster Nick Suban and Grover with hitting the Cats' Steve Johnson, both incidents occurring in Sunday's match at Subiaco.

Grover will risk a one-match suspension if he fights his charge, but Ling can not be handed more than a reprimand because of a penalty reduction for a five-year clean record.

The only other charge was against Fremantle's Matthew De Boer, who faces a $1,950 fine for negligently making contact with an umpire.

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