JOHAN Djourou has been called up by Switzerland coach Ottmar Hitzfeld to replace injured Arsenal team-mate Philippe Senderos.

Senderos was ruled out of the Gunners' opening day win over West Brom with a hamstring problem and it is not known how long the 23-year-old centre-half will be out for. So Hitzfeld has brought in his club mate Djourou, who has been paired alongside William Gallas at the heart of the Arsenal defence in the absence of Kolo Toure.

"I don't even know if Senderos will be fit again for Israel (on Sept. 6),'' said the German coach, who is taking charge of the Swiss for the first time. "That's why it was really important to me to have Djourou with us.''

Djourou, 21, has played 17 times for his country and looks set to feature heavily under Hitzfeld as experienced head Patrick Mueller is also out of contention as he is without a club.