Southern French town's excuse, when independence lost (4)
I believe the answer is:
albi
'southern french town's' is the definition.
(Albi is a commune in southern France)
'excuse when independence lost' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'independence' could be 'i' and 'i' is present in the answer.
'lost' could be 'l' (abbreviation in sporting league tables) and 'l' is present in the answer.
The remaining letters 'ab' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
(Other definitions for albi that I've seen before include "town in France" , "in south of France" , "French city, capital of the Tarn department" , "French town" .)