Keates, who recently saw his side held to a draw by Joey Barton's Fleetwood Town, also admitted that his team will be classed as underdogs for the upcoming clash, but that is no different from the beginning of the campaign, where the Saddlers were among the favourites to be scrapping at the foot of the table, rather than remaining within just a few points of the Play-Off places.
Speaking via the club's official website - www.Saddlers.co.uk - Dean said; "We have been labelled as the underdog from the first day of the season so this week is no different for us. We are coming up against the giants in the division if we are being honest.
"In the last seven or eight years, they have been in the Premier League but they are now in League One and they are here for a reason and we have to make sure we are ready for them. We have got to keep going about our own business and we are accountable for us.
"We don’t need to worry about anybody else. We will go about our business and make sure that we are ready for the weekend and we will go from there. Sunderland have suffered back-to-back relegations but they are on the front foot at the moment and they are going to be the favourites to win the division, and rightly so because of the size of the club and the budget that they have.
"It is going to be a test for us but it is one that we are looking forward to. They’re a good team and they are a massive club. Like I have said, they are in this division for a reason, it’ll be a big test for us as a football club but one we are certainly looking forward to."