After seeing Pablo work with the first-team squad during pre-season training, coach César Ferrando was quoted as saying he would pick Pablo and ten others for the coming campaign. He was as good as his word: Pablo made his Segunda División debut in a 1–1 draw away to Terrassa on 31 August 2002, and went on to start 38 of Albacete's 42 matches as they finished the season in third place and were promoted to La Liga. After only a few second-tier matches, he had made sufficient impact to attract interest from clubs both domestic and foreign and receive a call-up to the Spanish under-21 team for a friendly match against Bulgaria.