Felipe Contepomi has been handed a recall to the Argentina side for the autumn internationals © Getty Images

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Players/Officials: Patricio Albacete | Felipe Contepomi

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Felipe Contepomi has been handed a recall to the Argentina squad for their autumn internationals, but second-row Patricio Albacete has been forced to withdraw after undergoing surgery.

The Stade Français fly-half won the most recent of his 78 caps against France in June and then missed the entire Rugby Championship after an agreement between the Argentine Union (UAR) and the French clubs meant that players couldn't feature in the June Tests and the Rugby Championship. Albacete required surgery after he injured an eye socket in Toulouse's match with Racing Metro on Thursday and will be out of action for over a month.

"Pato Albacete is a major player in our team and we wish him a speedy recovery," Phelan said. "But being able to call on the experience of Felipe Contepomi is something that will help the squad."

Overall Los Pumas coach Santiago Phelan has had to make three change to his squad for matches against Wales in Cardiff on November 10, France in Lille on November 17 and Ireland in Dublin on November 24. Contepomi replaces Biarritz centre Marcelo Bosch, who along with prop Gómez Kodela, has been held back by their club. Juan Gómez Kodela replaces Kodela and Tomás Vallejos Cinalli comes in for Albacete.

Even though his side has been hit by the reluctance of French clubs to release them, Phelan is confident that the depth of players is sufficient for the upcoming internationals.

"One year as long as this one has been involves having a lot of players prepared to play at the highest level and ready to be called up," Phelan said. "We worked really well with the European clubs to give us access to their players for the Rugby Championship."