Lower in comparison, and unable to cope (3,2,2,2)
I believe the answer is:
not up to it
'lower in comparison' is the definition.
I don't know anything about this answer so I cannot tell whether this works.
'and unable to cope' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'and' could be 'n' (common abbreviation for 'and') and 'n' is located in the answer.
'to' is within the answer.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Another definition for not up to it that I've seen is " Ill-prepared".)