Crossword Genius

Paid attention as to not lose Focus on back road (12)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

concentrated

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'paid attention as to not lose' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this defines the answer.

'focus on back road' is the wordplay.
'focus' becomes 'concentrate' ('concentrate' can be a synonym of 'focus').
'on back road' becomes 'd' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'concentrate'+'d'='CONCENTRATED'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Another definition for concentrated that I've seen is " Focused - made denser".)

I've seen this clue in the Irish Times.
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