Avoid putting favourites back on team (8)
I believe the answer is:
sidestep
'avoid' is the definition.
(sidestepping is a kind of avoiding)
'favourites back on team' is the wordplay.
'favourites' becomes 'pets' ('pet' can be a synonym of 'favourite').
'back' says the letters should be written in reverse.
'on' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'team' becomes 'side' (both can mean a sports team).
'pets' reversed gives 'step'.
'step' put after 'side' is 'SIDESTEP'.
'putting' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for sidestep that I've seen before include "Dodge - circumvent" , "Find a way round" , "Dodge (an issue?)" , "To avoid" , "Shift to right or left" .)