MELBOURNE coach Simon Goodwin says Jack Viney's serious misconduct incident wasn't a good look for the game, but insists the Demons midfielder never set out to harm his opponent.

Viney copped a two-match suspension at the AFL Tribunal on Tuesday night after being found guilty of pressing and holding his elbow into the neck and throat of Gold Coast defender Sam Collins.

It means Viney will miss Monday night's clash with West Coast in Perth and the match against Adelaide in round 22.

Viney was widely criticised for endangering the safety of Collins. Fortunately, Collins wasn't badly hurt in the incident and was able to play out the match.

Goodwin said Viney was a high-quality person who had simply made a mistake.

"Jack plays in a way that's really in and under and tough," Goodwin said.

"Clearly when you look at that (incident) it's not a great look for the game. He knows that himself and he's owned that.

"He said he's overstepped the mark and he''d do it differently and better (next time).

"He certainly wasn't out there to cause any harm to Sam. He's a competitor and he knows he's made a mistake.

"It's not a great look and the AFL have identified that and they want to get it out of the game, which has the support of everyone."

The third-placed Demons bounced back to form last week with a 98-point demolition of Gold Coast.

Forward Tom McDonald, who was subbed out of the game in the second half with a back injury, is expected to be fit to tackle West Coast.

"He had a hit to his lower back and it was a bit of a back spasm, a little bit discy," Goodwin said.

"It just seized up throughout the game and got worse and worse. Those discy-type injuries take time to settle, they're day-by-day things. He's feeling better and better all the time.

"He'll do some light work today at training and we're really hopeful that by the end of the week he'll be ready to go.

"He's quite confident in his own mind that he'll be available."

West Coast skipper Luke Shuey needs another week to recover from a calf injury while defender Tom Barrass (hamstring) and forward Liam Ryan (hamstring) also fell short of proving their fitness.