The Red Devils side that takes to the pitch at Glanford Park is likely to be drastically different to that which defeated Liverpool in the Premier League on Sunday - with Wayne Rooney, Dimitar Berbatov and Edwin van der Sar all likely to be rested.
Although there is every chance Scholes will also be left out, he said there is plenty of motivation for his teammates to win the match and defend the trophy.
There is also the memory of last season's two-legged semi-final against Manchester City and the final against Aston Villa at Wembley. Sir Alex Ferguson played a strong team in all those games.
"I would prefer to be playing mega games than be sat at home watching them," said Scholes.
"You do get high intensity games in the Carling Cup and maybe in other countries, cup competitions are not as important.
"It is in our nature to want to win every game. Winning trophies is all about getting to the later stages of competitions and having big games at the end of them. We want to win this, just as we want to win every other tournament we enter."
Scholes does not expect the tie to be easy - Manchester United have gone out of the Carling Cup to Coventry City and Southend United in recent seasons.
"Scunthorpe are a very good team at home, anything can happen at places like that," he added.