Nasty man leaving those left behind to protect dog (9)
I believe the answer is:
repugnant
'nasty' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'man leaving those left behind to protect dog' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'man' could be 'r' (abbreviation for rook, a chess piece or 'man') and 'r' is located in the answer.
'dog' could be 'pug' (pug is a kind of dog) and 'pug' is present in the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for repugnant that I've seen before include "Loathsome" , "Abhorrent" , "revolting" , "vile" , "Very unwelcome" .)