Expert smothers company junior in praise (8)

I believe the answer is:

accolade

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

'expert smothers company junior' is the wordplay.
'expert' becomes 'ace' (ace can informally mean very good).
'smothers' indicates putting letters inside (I've seen this in other clues).
'company' becomes 'co' (abbreviation).
'junior' becomes 'lad' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should believe this answer much more).
'co'+'lad'='colad'
'ace' placed around 'colad' is 'ACCOLADE'.

'in' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for accolade that I've seen before include "Praise, honour" , "Honour, high award" , "Approval, acclaim" , "Praise, acclaim" , "Award, originally of knighthood" .)

I've seen this clue in The Sun and The Daily Express.

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