Defame, at a press gathering, the English (7)

I believe the answer is:

asperse

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'defame' is the definition.
('asperse' can be a synonym of 'defame')

'a press gathering the english' is the wordplay.
'a' becomes 'per'.
'press' becomes 'ass' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'gathering' indicates putting letters inside.
'the english' becomes 'e' (abbreviation).
'per' placed into 'ass' is 'aspers'.
'aspers'+'e'='ASPERSE'

'at' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for asperse that I've seen before include "Slander like Parsees" , "See spar could slander oddly" , "Slander, spread false rumours about - as peers may?" , "Defame" , "Slander or calumniate" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.

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