 Thorne found the net 16 times during the season, including scoring against Bristol City in the first leg of the play-off semi-final.Thorne remained a vital part of the team the next year and had scored 13 times when he fractured a bone in his foot meaning he missed the last three months of the season.Injuries would mean he rarely managed an extended run in the side during the rest of his time at the club and at the end of the 2004–05 season he was allowed to join Norwich City on a free transfer, although the Canaries would have had to pay a total of £200,000 had they reached the Premiership within two years of the transfer, to reduce the club's wage bill, with Thorne being the club's highest paid player at the time, after it was revealed they were in serious financial difficulties.