He said: "I can't comment on what the supporters are going to do. He was always going to come back into the squad at some stage. We have to move on.
"Lukaku is in a really rich vein of form. We are delighted he chose to come here and it's been good for us and good for Rom. I'm just pleased to win and it's a relief after the run we have had."
The 4-2 win at Sunderland in November lifted Clarke's team into third place but they have had a difficult time since, with the 1-0 win at Liverpool last Monday their first victory of 2013.
Sunderland were unlucky when Ben Foster fumbled John O'Shea's header onto the post before Steven Fletcher's low shot came back off the upright. But they fell behind on 35 minutes after Craig Gardner was adjudged to have handled Liam Ridgewell's cross in the penalty area. Lukaku stepped up to score from the spot.
Sunderland improved in the second period, but Lukaku claimed his second 15 minutes from time after goalkeeper Simon Mignolet's clearance from Titus Bramble's poor back pass cannoned off the Belgian to rebound into the empty net.
The visitors responded and Stéphane Sessègnon found the corner after Jonas Olsson failed to clear. They could even have claimed a point but Foster was equal to David Vaughan's effort.
The fear of relegation is still there for Sunderland manager Martin O'Neill. He said: "I really felt we could and should have got something out of the game."
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