ESSENDON ruckman Tom Bellchambers will miss the club's final game of the season after having shoulder surgery.

The 29-year-old had been struggling with pain in recent weeks and with Essendon's finals hopes now gone, he went under the knife on Monday.

Bellchambers has enjoyed perhaps his strongest season as the Bombers' first-choice ruckman, playing 20 games and averaging 33 hit-outs a game.

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"Tom has, for a while, been battling pain in his AC joint," said high performance manager Justin Crow. 

"He's had surgery – which is a distal clavicle resection – so he'll start his rehab this week.

"He'll be looking to get back into training when we return with graduated contact."

Matthew Leuenberger, who has not played since round six and is out of contract at the end of the season, is the obvious candidate to replace Bellchambers for their clash against Port Adelaide on Friday night.