Experienced central defender Patrick Mueller has been given a chance to prove his fitness for Euro 2008 after being called up in a provisional 26-man squad by Switzerland coach Koebi Kuhn.

Mueller, 31, tore a cruciate knee ligament in December but recently resumed training with French first division leaders Lyon and played 65 minutes with the club's reserves at the weekend.

Right back Philipp Degen has also made the first cut, despite still suffering from a torn leg joint, but there was no place in the squad for his twin brother David who has been ruled out with a groin injury.

Defensive midfielder Blerim Dzemaili also misses out as expected after failing to secure a first team place at Bolton Wanderers despite recovering from a cruciate ligament injury.

Kuhn said he planned to name his definitive 23-man squad for the tournament, which Switzerland are co-hosting with Austria, on the May 28 deadline.

Squad:

Goalkeepers: Diego Benaglio (VfL Wolfsburg), Pascal Zuberbuehler (Neuchatel Xamax), Fabio Coltorti (Racing Santander)

Defenders: Philipp Degen (Borussia Dortmund), Johannes Djourou (Arsenal), Mario Eggimann (Karlsruhe), Stephane Grichting (AJ Auxerre), Stephan Lichtsteiner (Lille), Ludovic Magnin (VfB Stuttgart), Patrick Mueller (Olympique Lyon), Philippe Senderos (Arsenal), Christoph Spycher (Eintracht Frankfurt), Steve von Bergen (Hertha Berlin)

Midfielders: Tranquillo Barnetta (Bayer Leverkusen), Valon Behrami (Lazio), Ricardo Cabanas (Grasshoppers Zurich), Gelson Fernandes (Manchester City), Daniel Gygax (Metz), Benjamin Huggel (Basel), Gokhan Inler (Udinese), Johan Vonlanthen (Salzburg), Hakan Yakin (Young Boys)

Forwards: Eren Derdiyok (Basel), Alexander Frei (Borussia Dortmund), Blaise Nkufo (Twente Enschede), Marco Streller (Basel)

Reuters