BROWN WILL GO IF PRICE IS RIGHT.

CELTIC will struggle to hold on to Scott Brown if a bid of pounds 8million arrives for the midfielder - according to former Hoops stars Darren Jackson and Tosh McKinlay.

Reports today claim Everton are prepared to offer between pounds 6m and pounds 8m for the Scotland internationalist who has previously been linked with Tottenham and Portsmouth.

Speaking to promote ESPN's coverage of Sunday's SPL game between Hibs and Celtic ex-Bhoys defender McKinlay said: "I don't think Celtic can afford to knock back pounds 8m."

However, McKinlay does believe Brown, 24, will stay at Parkhead until the next transfer window, saying: "I don't think it will happen this time - maybe in January as that would give Celtic enough time to go and invest in the transfer market again."

McKinlay reckons Celtic fans haven't seen the best of Brown since he joined them just over two years ago but says it is team-mate Aiden McGeady, 23, Celtic are most frightened of losing.

He said: "The main player they'll want to keep is McGeady. But the transfer window shuts at the end of this month and you can probably see somebody taking a sniff for Aiden."

McKinlay's former team-mate Jackson agrees Celtic would be tempted to part with Brown or McGeady for the right price But he added: "It's whether the players want to go. They love being at Celtic but financially it will be an awful lot better . Meanwhile, Derek Riordan says Hibs have the strikers to terrorise Celtic's leaky defence at Easter Road on Sunday.

With Colin Nish acting as a foil for Riordan and new signing Anthony Stokes the Edinburgh club boast one of the best forward lines in the SPL.

Ex-Celt Riordan said: "We won't have any problem scoring, we just need to try to keep clean sheets."

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OLD BHOYS: Tosh McKinlay and Darren Jackson help promote the ESPN coverage of Sunday's showdown