Crossword Genius

Doctor decides leader is missing menial workers (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

drudges

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'menial workers' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)

'doctor decides leader is missing' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'doctor' could be 'dr' (abbreviation) and 'dr' is located in the answer.
'leader' could be 'e' (I've seen this in other clues) and 'e' is located in the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

(Another definition for drudges that I've seen is " They're made to do hard menial or dull work".)

I've seen this clue in The Daily Express.
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