Crossword Genius

There's no place for him (4-3)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

also-ran

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

'there's no place for him' is the definition.
The answer is a person as well as being a singular noun. This is suggested by the definition.

'him' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'him' could be 'oran' and 'oran' is located in the answer.
The remaining letters 'als' 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).

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for also-ran that I've seen before include "One of the losers" , "Not among the first three in race" , "Unplaced horse" , "Of racing horse, not placed in first three" , "This horse doesn't win" .)

I've seen this clue in The Globe and Mail.
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