Gerado Martino is hopeful Roque Santa Cruz will recover in time for Paraguay's upcoming qualifier against Argentina.

Santa Cruz is suffering with an Achilles problem, but Martino has refused to rule him or crocked strike partner Salvador Cabanas out of the crunch clash on Saturday.

He said: "I don't rule them out at all. They did not train today (Thursday) with us but it doesn't mean they will not play.

"I cannot confirm the team yet because we are waiting for the injured men.

"We will wait and see if they recover. We want to know what the doctors say."

The comments come a day after Santa Cruz dismissed his chances of playing against the Albicelestes, instead setting his sights on Tuesday's encounter with Venezuela.

"I still don't know whether I can play against Argentina but the injury is coming on okay," said Santa Cruz.

"I am not fully fit yet but the pain is less each day. We'll see how it reacts. If I'm not fine, I'll keep training to play against Venezuela."

Santa Cruz has already scored three goals in four games in the World Cup qualification campaign.