The manager, who saw his side secure victory with goals from summer signings Morgan Ferrier and Isaiah Osbourne, was delighted with the desire his team displayed as they took the game to their previously undefeated opponents and looked to have the game won by half-time.
Whilst the Saddlers were ultimately unable to keep their sheet clean, a late Tom Eaves strike denting Liam Roberts' record, they once again showed their newly-built attacking prowess as several of the summer arrivals peppered the Gills' goal and should have had the match wrapped up well before the injury time strike.
Keates was however proud of his side and admitted that they did well to overcome the Gills as they moved into the top four, making the pre-season predictions of relegation look a little premature.
Dean, who was speaking to several members of the local media, said; "I thought we deserved it. If we’d taken another chance, it would have made life a little easier. Gillingham are a good team and you could see why they’ve won both games. It was a tough test – a very tough test for us.
"They’re all good, young players here and they want to learn. They’re a pleasure to work with. There are going to be games where we don’t get results, but they’re giving everything for the football club. You could sense that in the stadium today, that the fans appreciated it. There’s a hunger there from the team.
"The minimum the players have to do is work hard and give 110%. I ask of it Monday to Friday – we go on about habits, they do it in training and on Saturday it becomes easy for them. The lads that have been added this season have kicked on the lads who were still here from last season. It was massive we didn’t have a hangover from last year. We’re revitalised. We’ll keep going and keep developing."