Longed for a herd Ken lost (8)

I believe the answer is:

hankered

'longed' is the definition.
('hanker' can be a synonym of 'long')

'a herd ken lost' is the wordplay.
'lost' indicates anagramming the letters.
'a'+'herd'+'ken'='aherdken'
'aherdken' is an anagram of 'HANKERED'.

'for' is the link.

(Another definition for hankered that I've seen is " Longed, yearned".)

I've seen this clue in the Irish Times.

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