Essendon coach James Hird says there could be circumstances under which he would accept an AFL suspension, but his first priority is to prove he's innocent of most allegations against him.
Bombers president Paul Little said on Saturday night the club was close to reaching agreement with the AFL over how they would be penalised for last year's supplements saga.
The Bombers will front an AFL Commission hearing on Monday.
The deal is likely to mean Essendon being stripped of their finals spot, fined heavily and a suspension for Hird, although Little would not confirm any of those details.
But Little did confirm that the AFL had given the club the option of accepting a penalty on their own behalf, while leaving Hird and club doctor Bruce Reid to battle the AFL separately, if they chose to.
Hird said on Saturday night he would prefer to resolve the matter together with the club if possible.
"I'd love to do it along with the club," he told reporters after guiding the Bombers to a comeback win over Carlton.
"Everything I've done has been along with the club, I'd love to finish it with the club.
"That will play out and we'll wait and see.
"The club and myself obviously I see as one entity.
"But I haven't sat down with anyone and had that conversation yet.
"If that does happen in the next day or so then we'll be able to tell you."
But Hird said if he was to take a ban, it would be under certain conditions.
"If it meant the club didn't lose premiership points and they didn't lose draft picks and the players were cleared, there would be definitely a situation," he said.
"If that was what the best thing for the club was, yes.
"But I don't know how that looks."
Hird said it would be a "tragedy" if the Bombers missed the finals and he regarded the stripping of premiership points as a penalty for cheating, something he doesn't believe the Bombers are guilty of.
Asked how he would handle a suspension, he said his chief aim was to clear his reputation.
"First of all I want to prove I'm innocent of a lot or 99 per cent of those charges," Hird, who launched Supreme Court action against the AFL on Thursday, said.
"I look at those charges and they make me sick that they're out there and that people would believe that is the truth about me.
"I'm determined to clear that up.
"Then we'll go from there about suspension or not suspension."
Asked whether he believed he personally deserved a punishment, Hird said he was responsible for certain things that occurred at the club last year but it was up to others to decide whether they warranted a sanction.
Asked whether he regretted undertaking the supplements program, he described that as an "interesting question".
"I certainly regret what's happened in 2012, some certain aspects of what's happened in 2012. I think the whole club does," Hird said.
Earlier, Little said if Hird was suspended, it would be the Bombers' preference that he returns as coach after serving his ban.
Hird, assistant Mark Thompson, Reid and football manager Danny Corcoran, along with the Bombers have all been charged by the AFL with bringing the game into disrepute.
