Essendon has decided not to contest the one match ban handed to midfielder Zach Merrett.

The reigning Crichton Medal winner was charged with striking Carlton's Lachie Plowman.

The incident was assessed as intentional conduct with medium impact to the body.

That equated to a two-match ban, but Merrett's early plea means he will spend one week on the sidelines.

“Ultimately we decided not to challenge the charge despite the fact we felt we had a reasonable case," Essendon's General Manager of Football, Rob Kerr said.

“The case would have been built around the grading of the contact.

“The incident was assessed as medium impact and when you look at the examples the AFL provides at the start of the year to help classify offences, there was a sound argument to say it could rightfully have been classified as low impact.

“However when we sat down with Zach and discussed it, given how tight the season is, we decided we didn’t want risk losing Zach for the Gold Coast game.

“So somewhat reluctantly we’ll lose him for one week but he can come back fresh for the Suns game.”

Merrett hasn't missed a match since 2015 and has averaged 31 possessions per game this season.