Expecting finished article: pants (2,3,4)

I believe the answer is:

up the duff

'expecting' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'finished article pants' is the wordplay.
'finished' becomes 'up' (similar in meaning).
'article' becomes 'the' (the definite article in English).
'pants' becomes 'duff' (both are informal terms meaning poor-quality).
'up'+'the'+'duff'='UP THE DUFF'

(Another definition for up the duff that I've seen is " Expecting".)

I've seen this clue in The Times.

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