Rear Admiral essentially struggling to get drier (5)
I believe the answer is:
airer
'drier' is the definition.
(frame for airing wet clothes)
'rear admiral essentially struggling' is the wordplay.
'essentially' says to take the centre.
'struggling' indicates an anagram (the letters struggle or wriggle into a new form).
The middle of 'admiral' is 'i'.
'rear'+'i'='reari'
'reari' with letters rearranged gives 'AIRER'.
'to get' is the link.
(Other definitions for airer that I've seen before include "I rear (anag) - frame for clothes" , "Frame for drying clothes" , "Where to dry what's washed" , "Dryer" , "Laundry-drying frame" .)