Substitutes for team beside opponents (7)

I believe the answer is:

proxies

'substitutes' is the definition.

'for team beside opponents' is the wordplay.
'for' becomes 'pro' (as in being 'pro' something).
'team' becomes 'xi' (eleven, a football team).
'beside' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other) (I've seen this in other clues).
'opponents' becomes 'es' (I've seen this in other clues).
'pro'+'xi'+'es'='PROXIES'

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.

Want a hint initially instead of a full solution? Install my app