Wayne will be hoping for better luck in his second season at Turf Moor after injury robbed him of much of his first campaign with the club.<\/P>
The strong and pacy defender became Steve Cotterill's third signing of the 2005 closed season when his contract expired at Championship rivals Stoke City <\/P>
It took a flying visit by Cotterill to Wayne's holiday base in Florida\u00a0to seal his signature ahead of a clutch of clubs and the player later admitted that shock visit\u00a0persuaded him to agree to join the club.<\/P>
However, disaster struck in August when the central defender suffered a cruciate knee injury at Reading. After initially being ruled out for the season he made a miracle return at Christmas, but needed a second operation to remove a\u00a0piece of troublesome cartilage early in 2006.<\/P>
A foot injury sustained at Stoke in March finally ended a jinxed campaign for the popular stopper, who has previously worked under Cotterill in the Potteries.<\/P>
Born in the west country, Wayne began his career in the south-west with Torquay United before joining Stoke for £200,000 in\u00a0the summer of 2000.<\/P>
He settled into life in the former Second Division and in only his second season at the Britannia Stadium helped the Potters to promotion to the Championship.<\/P>
Since then he has proved to be one of the top performers in the Championship. Capable of playing in the centre of defence or as a right-back, Wayne is renowned for his pace and strength and\u00a0will be praying injury steers well clear in the coming campaign.\u00a0<\/P>","519F480A5D95AABE6A686DDD7927C081":"","A3B3C821F4815DD2":"5997","43E2EE6075CF14CE923FBA848936BF61":"Anh","1CD1A53514962B6A":"1","D91AFD3F8E13D9464AC1F72AB7598BE2":"Veria FC,PAE Atromitos,Doncaster Rovers,Southampton,Burnley,Torquay United","e_index":3};