Essendon are holding out slim hope that veteran Mark McVeigh will be able to line up in the Saturday's AFL match against Carlton at the MCG.

McVeigh is in hospital after a small cut on his arm became infected.

The infection flared up during Sunday's loss to Fremantle and the 29-year-old was admitted to hospital late that night.

However coach Matthew Knights said McVeigh would have to make a very speedy recovery to be considered for selection this week.

"He's still struggling a little bit," Knights said on Tuesday.

"His fever's come down, but he's obviously still in recovery mode and he'll be in hospital until he feels good enough to come out.

"It's not an ideal preparation for the week ahead, and we've just got to monitor that with our medical staff and Mark as the week goes on and let's hope he recovers sooner rather than later and can get moving again."

Knights admitted that McVeigh would need to be released from hospital on Tuesday or early Wednesday to have a chance of playing.

"If he stays in hospital for another day or two he'd probably be unlikely," he said.

Essendon has had a dismal start to the season with two straight losses and desperately needs to post a win before its season slips away.

"It's an important game, it really is," Knights said.

"Carlton is 1-1 and we're 0-2. It's important for both teams to get a win.

"Both teams will be fairly full-on and wound up to win this contest."

Despite their plight, Knights has faith that the Bombers - who will regain forward Nathan Lovett-Murray this week - have the list to bounce back.

"We feel in the VFL at the moment we've got some really capable young men," he said.

"But I also believe the guys in the team at the moment have got what it takes to continue to move this club forward and further, so I got strong belief in this playing list that they are going to be capable of very good things in the future.

"I'll always have that belief. It's one of my philosophies of coaching - to always back your players.

"I'll continue to do that. That won't mean that we won't have some genuine conversations at times about our responsibilities and our willingness as a team to be better but I've got a belief in the playing group, yes," he said.

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