It's a man in distress and what could keep him going (7)
I believe the answer is:
stamina
'what could keep him going' is the definition.
The definition suggests a singular noun but the answer is a plural noun.
'it's a man in distress' is the wordplay.
'in distress' indicates an anagram.
'its'+'a'+'man'='itsaman'
'itsaman' with letters rearranged gives 'STAMINA'.
'and' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for stamina that I've seen before include "Ability to keep going" , "This man owes his strength" , "Parts of flowers" , "grit" , "Vigour" .)