Yearn to have an attempt in the distant past (4,3)
I believe the answer is:
long ago
'the distant past' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'yearn to have an attempt' is the wordplay.
'yearn' becomes 'long-' (synonyms).
'to have' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'an attempt' becomes 'ago' (I've seen this in other clues).
'long'+'ago'='LONG-AGO'
'in' is the link.
(Other definitions for long ago that I've seen before include "Very far back in time" , "in the 26 [PAST]" , "In the distant past" , "Remote in time" , "Ages back" .)