 Wilkinson returned to Stoke where he made three appearances in the Football League.These included his league debut against Walsall on 31 January as an 80th-minute substitute for Lewis Neal and his first league start in a 4–1 victory over West Bromwich Albion on 4 May.For the beginning of the 2004–05 season Wilkinson was loaned to Scottish Division One side Partick Thistle, for whom he scored his only professional goal against Clyde.