Brown is under contract until 2009 at Easter Road

Assistant manager Ricky Sbragia told the Scottish Daily Mail: "I don't think there is any doubt Scott Brown is capable of playing in the Premiership.

"We were aware of him and Kevin Thomson at Hibs and it was good to see him at international level.

"He stepped up well and looked to start solidly against Italy."

Hibernian, who sold Thomson to Rangers in January, have conceded that Brown is likely to leave in the summer.

And both Rangers and Celtic have been chasing the dynamic midfielder for some time.

Brown made his first start for Scotland in Wednesday's 2-0 loss to Italy and performed well against the World Cup winners.

It was a massive step up from the Under-21s to facing the world champions Scott Brown

"It all comes down to money at the end of the day and what kind of player we decide we need," added Sbragia.

"What I would say is, you don't like someone to sign for someone else when you've not taken a serious look at them yourselves."

Brown won praise from national boss Alex McLeish and Hibs manager John Collins after his display in Bari.

And the player was satisfied with his own performance, saying: "It was a massive step up from the Under-21s to facing the world champions.

"It's the step I had to take and, to be honest, I was delighted with how I coped.

"I thought it was a good performance from the team, even in defeat.

"I liked the role I had in there and I think it helps when you have class like Barry Ferguson and Paul Hartley behind you.

"We played some good stuff and combined well and we were not shelling balls forward from the back.

"We played the game the right way against the best there is and we can grow from that."