Small animal breaking leg in excavation (6)

I believe the answer is:

piglet

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

'small animal' is the definition.
'piglet' can be an answer for 'animal' (piglet is a kind of animal). I am unsure of the 'small' bit.

'breaking leg in excavation' is the wordplay.
'breaking' is an anagram indicator.
'in' indicates putting letters inside.
'excavation' becomes 'pit' (pit is a kind of excavation).
'leg' is an anagram of 'gle'.
'gle' inserted inside 'pit' is 'PIGLET'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for piglet that I've seen before include "One of Christopher Robin's animals" , "Friend of Pooh" , "Young farm animal" , "Young porker" , "19's little friend" .)

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.