Maidstone-born Dean is a combative central midfielder who originally joined Gillingham's Centre of Excellence at the age of eight. He signed apprentice forms in the summer of 2008 and caught the eye with a series of impressive performances for the youth team.

His form earned him a call up to the senior squad and a place on the subs bench for the Gills FA Cup Third Round tie with Aston Villa in January 2009. Dean continued to progress well in 2009/10 and finished the campaign as leading scorer for the Youth Team, before signing his first professional contract with the club at the end of May.

Sadly Rance broke a bone in his foot in a pre-season friendly at Bromley, which severely limited his first team chances in 2010/11 but impressed during loan spells at Maidstone United and Bishops Stortford.

Dean was given a one year contract extension for the 2011-12 campaign and finally made his first-team debut as a substitute (for Curtis Weston) in the FA Cup First Round replay against AFC Bournemouth at Priestfield in November 2011.