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>","3D0C18FC6E83B9810B0FAD6BF04C7B64":"","7CC3966A9B90B9412F1273E902F0953F":"Veria FC,PAE Atromitos,Doncaster Rovers,Southampton,Burnley,Torquay United","0108B3B67855A673":"5997","784E2315886D4158FF9CFFE843FE6B59":"","70545F9392E8422F11E2D5550E456F39":"Veria FC","02EB7DF46653B329":"Wayne Thomas","805ACE40479B6E763FB50E182B20A495":"1979-5-17","781CC09C30E6A152":"1","FCD4DE51CBA4497A941CDE925DCB26D2":"England","4CC9C981935F4DF5":"Tamworth","1D8DD001D97C012A":"188cm","38882684D19FD665":"Wayne Thomas","F4645409D3EE42C9":"1435","5C3036D26CFC912788B0712D1AAE3BCF":"","5588923A723573201F6804A11C3F390A":"999","722D75C33935B48A":"94kg","e_index":8};