 He trained with Sunderland with a view to a loan move in July 2006, but Sunderland manager Niall Quinn decided against it due to Sunderland's large squad depth and lack of a reserve team.Arsenal agreed a loan deal with Falkirk that saw Stokes play for the Scottish Premier League (SPL) side until the end of 2006.Stokes scored his first goal for Falkirk in a 1–0 victory at Inverness Caledonian Thistle on 19 September 2006 in the Scottish League Cup.