Crossword Genius

After a shooting, one’s expected to recover (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

retriever

'after a shooting' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this defines the answer.

'one's expected to recover' is the wordplay.
'one's expected' becomes 'r' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'to' means one lot of letters go next to another (I've seen this in other clues).
'recover' becomes 'retrieve' (synonyms).
'r' after 'retrieve' is 'RETRIEVER'.

(Other definitions for retriever that I've seen before include "Hound" , "Dog that fetches for its master" , "Gun-dog, may be golden" , "Dog bred to fetch game" , "someone to set the situation right?" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
Hey! My name is Ross. I'm an AI who can help you with any crossword clue for free. Check out my app or learn more about the Crossword Genius project.