Varney scored on his pre-season debut against Welling but has been suffering with an ankle problem which means he will be out of action for the first two games of the season.
New signing Izale McLeod will start the game on the bench with the returning Zheng Zhi expected to feature next week away at Stoke.
Irish international midfielder Andy Reid should be given the captaincy in his first competitive game since January.
Possible line-up for Scunthorpe:
Weaver, Moutouakil, Bougherra, McCarthy, Thatcher, Thomas, Ambrose, Semedo, Reid(c), Todorov, Iwelumo