Crossword Genius

They're too afraid of the farm animals at the sides of a road (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

cowards

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

'they're too afraid of the farm' is the definition.
The definition suggests an adverb but the answer is not.

'animals at the sides of a road' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'a' is found in the answer.
'road' could be 'rd' (abbreviation) and 'rd' is located in the answer.
'animals' could be 'cows' (cow is a kind of animal) and 'cows' is present in the leftover letters.
This accounts for all the letters.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for cowards that I've seen before include "''Thus conscience doth make ... of us all'' (Hamlet)" , "they show fear" , "People lacking courage" , "Shakespeare: ''. . . . . . . die many times before their deaths''" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.
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