 He played nine times for the Lions before returning to Stoke in January 2015.With Wilkinson leaving Stoke at the end of the 2014–15 season he received a special recognition award for his contribution to Stoke, in total he spent 14 seasons at the Britannia Stadium making 194 appearances.On 29 July 2015 Stoke announced that Wilkinson had signed a short-term contract with the club in order to help him recover from a serious head injury he sustained playing against Blackburn Rovers in the FA Cup.