claw (one's) way back

To expend an intense, continuous effort to regain something or recover from some setback or hardship. The company has been trying to claw its way back from the brink of bankruptcy. We fell behind in the second half of the game, but we managed to claw our way back and eke out a win. The champion cyclist spent Friday clawing his way back to the front of the peloton after falling to 17th place earlier in the week.