Essendon coach James Hird is planning to sue the AFL over its handling of the supplements scandal.

Hird told a media conference on Wednesday he’d been denied natural justice by the AFL.

His legal team have signalled their intention to lodge a claim in the Victorian Supreme Court on Thursday, media reports said.

“We will be going to the Supreme Court tomorrow lodging a statement of claim outlining our concerns about the manner in which the AFL has conducted itself over the course of the past several months,” Hird’s spokesman Ian Hanke told AFL.com.au.

The Bombers coach, the club and three other officials have been charged by the AFL with bringing the league into disrepute over Essendon’s supplements scandal.

On Wednesday, eight days after the AFL announced it had laid charges against Essendon and the four individuals, chief executive Andrew Demetriou went ahead with the league’s intention to release the details in a 34-page document described by AFLPA chief Matt Finnis as shocking and distressing.

Hird is demanding the case should be heard by an independent tribunal, not the AFL Commission.

A Fairfax Media report says Hird’s legal team will demand the AFL provide particulars of charges it has laid against Hird and a list of witnesses for the case, which was originally scheduled to be heard next Monday by the AFL Commission.

Hird is concerned he had not been given the chance to contest evidence compiled since his day-long interview with ASADA in April, the report says.

Hird denies several key allegations contained in the 34-page report released by the AFL on Wednesday, including that he suffered side-effects from using Melanotan II and that he was warned by the AFL in August 2011 against using peptides.

He also denies it was his responsibility to conduct appropriate background checks on Dean Robinson and Steven Dank before the Bombers employed them as high performance coach and sport scientist.

Hird also maintains he never received the letter written by club doctor Bruce Reid, addressed to Hird and ex-club football manager Paul Hamilton, which addressed Reid’s concerns over the use of some supplements.

However Hird says he did discuss some of its contents with Reid.